Lil Delight Breaks Through at Narrogin
Lil Delight winning the last at Narrogin with Dylan Egerton-Green in the sulky. Photo Credit – Photography by Jodie Hallows/Paceway Photos.
“In the last six weeks I’ve thought she will never win a bloody race and I have also thought she will win one soon.”
On Saturday night, start 41 was the lucky number for Lil Delight, with the four-year-old breaking through for her maiden win after a gruelling few months for her connections. When Skye Bond offered the then three-year-old filly in January 2021, Sarah Suvaljko jumped at the opportunity to take her on, but after a few minor placings, an accident in her yard saw her side-lined for a few weeks.
“When I got her, we started riding her and she was loving it, I thought we would have a lot of fun with her,”
“I didn’t realise at the time how much damage she had done, and she is obviously pretty tough as she managed to work through it,”
“She had a couple of weeks off and it seemed to heal up well, so I started working her off the lead then I started jogging her as I didn’t want to put the riding saddle on her back as she was still so sensitive.”
With the majority of her work done under saddle, it was a less than ideal situation for Suvaljko when the horse sustained the injury to her back, so after making it back to the track after her brief freshen up, she discovered Lil Delight had become very one paced, forcing Suvaljko to make the choice to switch up her way of training and having to move towards training her in a more conventional way; contrary to how Sarah Suvaljko usually trains her horses. When this didn’t work, she ultimately made the decision to throw her back in the paddock for six weeks and start again.
“I decided she needed more track work, something I don’t usually do, but that didn’t work.”
“When she came back, we decided to ride her again even thought she was still sensitive in the back, as we had nothing to lose and she needed to step up,”
“We did a lot of wading and swimming at the beach and then started galloping her under saddle at the beach again,”
“She just thrived, she’s a cranky mare but her temperament has changed, and she loves her work now.”
Driven by Dylan Egerton-Green for the win on Saturday night at Narrogin, the majority of the driving early in her career for the Suvaljko stable was done by Daniel Suvaljko, Sarah’s son, who approached his mum just last month who suggested she should put Egerton-Green on to get his opinion on the mare. After runner up attempts at their last two starts, Egerton-Green took top prize at just his third start on board the maiden pacer.
“I think there’s a win in most horses, although it’s a lot harder now under this handicapping system,”
“If you have enough patience, the right race will come along and that’s what happened at Narrogin.” Suvaljko said.
Suvaljko is unsure whether there are any more wins instore for her special mare now that she has broken through for her first win, but she couldn’t be prouder of Lil Delight and the job she has done for the stable, with 13 top four finishes and now the win in her 35 starts for the stable.
“She’s a bit of a cranky girl, not the best eater or worker, but for some reason I have always liked her,”
“Full credit to Aaron who has done most of the work with her lately, I think they are ready for the Rottnest Swim.” She joked.
Ashleigh Paikos