Four runners … that’s all it took for the newly formed training partnership of Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald to land their first winner together, and there is no surprise there.
The powerful stable, built up to a remarkable level by Neasham in just four years of training in her own right, both in quality and numbers, will undoubtedly continue to flourish but, that said, it was always relatively important to get that first partnership win on the scoreboard as quickly as possible.
That win came when Sweet Proposal saluted in the fourth race at Hawksbury on Thursday, the opening day of the new season, after the stable had sent out two second and two third placed finishers in earlier races on the card.
On Saturday they take aim at another box they would want to tick early … the partnership’s first metropolitan winner.
To that end, Neasham and Archibald have a three-pronged attack.
They will send out three runners in Sydney, with last start winner Mickey’s Medal in the first race a lively chance to land to stable’s first metropolitan win. Fifty minutes later, the team has two runners in Melbourne, with another last start winner, Scoundrel, contesting the first race at Flemington … while they also have five runners going around in Brisbane.
Where-ever the wins come from moving forward … tomorrow or beyond that … the one sure bet is that the Neasham / Archibald partnership scoreboard will keep on rolling.
A formal change in name and identity … but, on every other level, you can expect it to be business as usual.