Flying Miss is another hit for superstitious Hastings trainer

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Flying Miss provided last weekend’s Cup Day revellers with arguably the most exciting moment of the day, rallying with real gusto and dashing through a horse-sized gap under jockey Chris Mamdeen to snatch victory in the final stride.

The excited crowd made quite a noise, although Flying Miss, a diminutive equine athlete who is proof positive of the old adage that good things come in small packages, seemed fairly unperturbed by the hullabaloo as she returned to the winner’s circle. And why would she be perturbed? After all, her last-gasp victory was her fourth of the current campaign. The win also moved her superstitious trainer, Rob Maybin, onto the 18-winner mark for the season, four clear of his nearest rivals and just four behind last season’s career-best total of 22.

“We’re not doing anything different this year,” Maybin said this week. “They all get turned out over the winter and then we start them going again at home before we bring them back in. We came back in a little after most others to avoid the late freeze.”

With a reduced horse population at Hastings this season, due in part to the passing of several major owners over the past few years, Maybin’s successful barn is undertaking much of the heavy lifting this year, providing as many runners each weekend as possible and helping to keep the show on the road. Maybin, however, characteristically rebuffs any questions regarding how many winners might yet come, for fear of jinxing his current form.

“The last time I spoke to a reporter,” he said, “the winners dried up, and I’m superstitious. We don’t set targets. We’ll just keep going as long as we can and see where we end up.”

Where Maybin could “end up” this season is as Hastings’ leading trainer, numerically. However, the title is decided on prize-money won and, on that table, he currently sits in third position, behind Steve Henson and the Barbara Anderson-Heads.

Flying Miss, who operates at the bottom of the class ladder at Hastings, is a perfect example of the purse level problem facing owners of blue-collar horses nationwide.

Her unbeaten run of four wins this season has netted her owners, in this case Maybin and his wife, Sheena, around $30,000. However, the costs of training a racehorse have, since the pandemic, ballooned to around $3,000 to $4,000 per month during the season, meaning even four-time winners of Flying Miss’s class are struggling to cover their owners’ costs.

Fortunately for Maybin, the costs are of secondary importance. A self-made man, who has worked tirelessly since arriving in Canada from Ireland as a youngster, he doesn’t train horses for a living, and owns, with Sheena, the horses he does train.

“If I had to do it for a living, I’d have quit a long time ago,” he is on record as saying.

Rob and Sheena, who along with assistant trainer Demitris Topouzis are vital cogs in the barn’s winner factory, were leading owners two years ago and currently sit atop of that particular table again, both numerically and in terms of prize-money won. And whatever happens between now and the end of the season, Maybin should still be a regular visitor to the winner’s circle. Touch wood.

Hastings Selections

Friday Night, First Race: 7 p.m.: Previously a winner in tougher company than he finds himself tonight, Prince Cairo can kick the weekend off perfectly for his Hastings Racing Club members

Hastings Race 5 (9 p.m.): Recruited out of Woodbine, Dream Jereem ran well enough when second last time to suggest he can take advantage of tonight’s small drop in class to get off the mark at Hastings.