Songster In Tune With Maiden Win at Eight

The connections of Songster after their win. Photo by Photography by Jodie Hallows.

Age is just a number and on Friday night Songster proved just that when the eight-year-old gelding broke through for his maiden win at Wagin for trainer Michele Charman and junior driver, Abbey Vidovich.

Whilst working for Barry Howlett and his stable in Busselton, Charman made the decision one day to ask Barry if he had any horses sitting in the paddock she could have a go with, and Songster was quickly pointed out to her.

A lightly raced seven-year-old at the time, Songster had only races six times for the Howlett stable before heading to the paddock in 2019 where he was somewhat forgotten about.

“I asked Barry if he had a horse that I could take and he said yeah, take songster.”

It was in May 2023 when Charman asked the question that the son of Tinted Cloud USA made his way to Michele Charman’s stable, but it hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing for the past 18 months.

“I took him to the vets in February and they told me I needed to retire him.”

A couple of months in the paddock and Charman soon discovered there was nothing with the aged gelding, and she swiftly put him back into work, and he’s been edging himself closer to that elusive first win for quite a while now.

Making his debut for the stable in December 2023, he made his return to racing a successful one, finishing just 3.4m behind the winner at Bunbury, and with a string of placings to his name, the push to retire him earlier this year would have come as a massive blow.

His return saw him finish in eighth place on Monday the 6th of May at Pinjarra and another quick freshen up saw him spend another five months away from the track, but its worked wonders and the eight-year-old had been knocking around in the top five placings for quite a while now.

When asked if the win was a surprise or whether it was expected, Charman responded “It was a bit of 50/50, he’s been getting pipped his last few starts, and I half expected him to get pipped again but new driver, and she drove him super, she’s a bit of a surprise package that Abbey (Vidovich).”

Songster is likely to race at his home track in Busselton after qualifying from the stand on Sunday.

“He went really good yesterday, so I will definitely be starting him at Busselton and seeing how he goes.”

Accustomed to show horses, Charman’s introduction to the trots came through her old neighbour Les Pye when she was just 16 years old, eventually going to work for Barry Howlett to learn the ropes before venturing out on her own.

Making her debut in the 1999/2000 season, Charman is quite happy with the simple thrills on offer in the industry, with any win good enough for her.

“I’m not fussy at all, I just want to win a race somewhere.

“I like to win the money as well, but its more that I love the picture on the wall, my wall is full of our wins.”

Flaming Cullen has recently retired for her stable after a mammoth 117 starts for 6 wins and 27 places and just shy of $53,000 in stakes.

She now has his half-sister Three Flames back in work after the two-year-old double Westbred daughter of Fly Like An Eagle had three starts for Aiden De Campo.