Dual success for Fliedner at cup carnival

SWAN Hill continues to be a happy hunting ground for Bendigo trainer Shane Fliedner.

The 2024 Country Achiever Award winner notched up a pair of winners with his small team at last week’s three-day Swan Hill Cup Carnival.

Fliedner was the first trainer to savour success at the carnival, saddling up the winner of the first race on day one on Friday in Summer Night.

He capped a remarkable weekend by masterminding back-to-back wins with the talented three-year Shamateur on Sunday.

The son of Shamus Award showed signs of maturity when breaking his maiden at Bendigo last month and followed up with a gutsy benchmark 64 win over 1200m.

A surprise win to some at 20-1, it was less of a shock to his trainer.

“We set him for this a long time ago. The (betting) market said no, but we were confident and everyone in Bendigo has backed him,” Fliedner said.

“He’s a very immature horse, but he has plenty of ability.

“He’ll be better in 12 months’ time.”

Shamateur boosted his career record to two wins and two placings from seven starts with the potential of bigger things in store.

Less expected was Friday’s win by Summer Night, one of the outsiders of the field at $31, with Fliedner favouring the prospects of his other runner in the race Alvin ($5).

Placed six times in his previous 11 starts, Alvin could again only manage a minor placing when third, no match for Summer Night, who loomed up to the early leader Whatdoya Mean in the straight before shooting clear for an impressive three-length win,

While it might not have panned out exactly as Fliedner had anticipated, he said Summer Night had shown signs of improvement in his previous start fifth at Seymour, when he challenged for the lead coming into the straight before fading late.

“It wasn’t what I expected … I thought the big horse (Alvin) might have got home over the top of the other one and I’d let him have a run in The Droughtbreaker on Sunday,” Fliedner said

“In any case, we will take what we can get. We’re pretty happy.

“It was a good money race – it will put a bit of food on the table.

“His run at Seymour was enormous; he attacked the lead all the way and he just got tired the last little bit over 1300m.

“I thought today would be nice.”

The Swan Hill carnival marked the return to racing of Fliedner’s former stable star Hi Stranger, who was retired in the spring of 2023.

The Kilmore Cup and Echuca Cup winner had not raced in 583 days.

After sitting outside the leader for much of the race, he faded late to beat one runner home over 1200m.

Hi Stranger had been spending his retirement on the Riverina Downs property of one of his owners Mario Cesnick at Tarcutta in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains.

“He was running in the mountains at Tarcutta and he was running with yearlings,” Fliedner explained.

“He was just burning around the paddock and his owner said, ‘if you don’t put him back in work, I will’.

“So, we are going to give him a little try and see what happens.”