Robert Dennis is enjoying being back training in the deep south and is excited about the prospects of his growing stable.
The Ascot Park horseman spent a stint working as an assistant to Cambridge trainer Andrew Forsman last year, but the lure of family proved too strong and Dennis returned to Southland with his family last November.
“It is much better for my family and I, our families are down here and there is no place like home,” Dennis said.
“We have got a young daughter and another child on the way too. Racing is quite demanding, it is long hours and early starts, and when you don’t have that network of support it does make it tough.
“We made the decision reasonably early to come back, but we are both comfortable with the decision we made.”
Formerly training out of Woodlands, Dennis set up his new operation at Ascot Park and one of the first horses to enter his barn was the Waikato Stud-bred and owned filly Missoni.
Dennis has been a long-time friend of Waikato Stud General Manager Mike Rennie, and his relationship with the Matamata nursery was further enhanced during his time in the north.
“I have had a bit of success with horses by their sires and I am very grateful for the support and sending a horse all the way down to Invercargill to race,” Dennis said.
“I have always had a good relationship with Mike Rennie at Waikato, but when you are up in Waikato in the thick of things, your face gets out and about a bit more and it is a lot easier to strengthen those connections.
“She (Missoni) was on the first truck to arrive down in mid-November.”
Dennis has been pleased with Missoni’s progression and is excited to see her make her raceday debut in the McCallums Group Maiden (1200m) at Ascot Park on Thursday, however, he said whether she takes her place in the field will be reliant on the weather.
“It is going to be track dependent,” he said. “There is some rain forecast and if it is too wet then she won’t run. I imagine it will be a bit of a learning curve for her. She is a nice enough filly that will improve with a bit of time.”
Dennis will also line-up Hasstobeyou in the Southland Honda Handicap (1200m), The Royal Diva in the Entain – NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race (1400m), and The Royal Jester in the Marquee & Party Hire Maiden (1600m).
“Hasstobeyou is backing up from Saturday where she was disappointing,” Dennis said. “We don’t feel she was 100 percent genuine, so here on our home track, back to 1200m, hopefully she can put in because she is very well.
“The Royal Diva and The Royal Jester are a couple of horses for the Dennis brothers. The wet track will help both of them, but they both need to show good improvement.”
Dennis has received plenty of support since his return, which gave him the confidence to head to Karaka last week to purchase four fillies at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale.
“I bought a really nice Darci Brahma filly (lot 560 for $85,000) out of Alagant Satin. She has got a strong South Island pedigree with Noble Bijou and Mellay the damsires of the second and third dams,” Dennis said.
“I bought a Per Incanto filly (lot 228 for $80,000) out of a stakes winner (Mini Pearl), an El Roca filly (lot 916 for $35,000) that is a half to a stakes performer (Serein), and a client of mine bought a nice Turn Me Loose filly (lot 160 for $60,000).
“They are four very nice fillies that I will be targeting two and three-year-old races with going forward. I am very excited to get them into the stable.
“I was a bit more active than usual, but that is a reflection on the ownership base and support I have.
“The support is still coming. There are 12 horses in the stable at the moment and the week up at Karaka there was certainly plenty of interest from people wanting to send horses down and taking shares in yearlings that I bought.”
While enjoying establishing his own stable at Ascot Park, Dennis has also enjoyed ownership success with three fillies he entrusted to Riccarton trainers Shane Kennedy and Anna Furlong when he made his initial move north.
“When I shifted away I sent those horses to Anna (Furlong) and she has done a terrific job with Betty Spaghetti (the winner of four races and runner-up in Listed NZB Insurance Stakes), Miss Layla (winner of the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes and placed in Gr.3 Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes and Listed Timaru Stakes (1400m), and Quintabelle (two wins and sixth in Listed Dunedin Guineas).
“They have all been competing in great races and run to their ability each time. I couldn’t be happier with them. A lot of people joke ‘when am I taking them back?’, but how could you take them back when they are going so well.”
Dennis has also been buoyed by the recent prizemoney announcements and said it can only be a good thing for Southland racing.
“It is all positive,” he said. “Stake money is going up and in the latest announcement there is the new feature day at Wingatui in March. There is also going to be a trickledown effect from the top to reach us down here.
“I am not afraid to travel, I am not afraid to send a horse anywhere. If I have a horse good enough it will be going as far as it needs to run in the races it should be running in.”