My Belladonna has her first WIN.
My Belladonna lead all the way to win at Newcastle 1150m on a soft 6 track. That’s 2 BIG WINs for our horses in the first 10 days of 2022.
See Race Video
MyBelladonna
2022
2022 has started off a GOOD YEAR.
1st January …. I finished working at Telfer mine in Western Australia and have now transferred with Macmahons to Dawson South Coal mine @ Moura South East Queensland. Only 4 hours drive from my home, 7 – 7 roster, no more interstate flights to work, No more sleeping at airports, No more getting stuck over the border for months on end. Telfer mine @ Western Australia was a great place to gain experience on the haul truck with CAT 793 D & F haul trucks but at Dawson South I will be driving the NEW Komatsu e830 Electric Haul Trucks. LOVED my time at Telfer but happy to be moving fwd to NEW things.
Moonshine Lady WINS @ Randwick
Also on 1st January …. Moonshine lady had her first race with her new trainer
Kristen Buchanan. The last 12 months she had been plagued with problems and raced so bad that we nearly retired her. We decided to relocate her to NSW in the hop of finding better trainers. She is now with Kristen Buchanan Stables at Wyong NSW, She had her first race with Kristen @ Randwick 1100m on the 1st January 2022, It was a tough field with most of the horses already winning back to back races. Moonshine Lady BLITZED them with a beautiful run leading the whole way and finishing with a good lead over the field. Next race for Moonshine lady with be late January or early Feb…. See Race Video
14 day Hotel Quarantine
I have been off work the past 3 months because the Western Australia border has been closed to Queensland due to the delta variant of covid.
Its been a wonderful experience being home with the family for the past 3 months… I got alot of projects done in the garden, helped lighten the load for my wife around the house & spending some quality time with my nearly 2 year old daughter has been priceless.
Back to WORK in WA
After 3 months being home daddy it is now time to get back to work.
The WA border is still closed so i have to do 14 day hotel quarantine in Perth before i can fly to my work location at the Telfer mine in Western Australia.
My employer (Macmahons) have been very supportive during my 3 months off work and they are covering food and accommodation expenses during my 14 day hotel quarantine.
Dreading hotel quarantine
14 days of sitting in a hotel room with not much to do seems painfully boring …
I googled “how to get through 14 days of quarantine” but most of the information i found online was basic stuff about doing yoga and meditation, getting in some exercise, keeping in contact with friends & family , read some books, listen to podcasts & try not to drink too much alcohol. Their wasn’t much good advice on what to pack or what not to pack .
My employer covers 2 meals a day ( breakfast and dinner) so i packed some extra food for lunch and some snacks, by day 3 of my hotel quarantine i realised most of the extra food was unnecessary as dinner and breakfast was enough food given that im not out and about burning off calories. Also the local supermarket can deliver groceries to the room so access to fresh fruit, snacks and coffee, etc was not an issue.
Last day before flying out of Queensland i went to the book store to find a few books to read. Im not much into reading books and couldn’t find anything that interested me so my plan B Was to try and find a cheap guitar ($100) to take with me into hotel quarantine.
I haven’t played a guitar in 20+ years and i was not very good at it back when i last played but as i want to spark some music interest in my daughter i decided to put in some effort to learn some basic songs.
Learning the guitar
Taking a guitar into quarantine has turned out to be the BEST decision . I have spent 3 – 6 hours most days practicing basic scales, some 12 bar blues and a few kids nursery rhymes. Any song you want to learn is available on youtube video so it has been suprisingly eazy to pick up some basic tunes. I look fwd to seeing what i can play for my daughter when i get back home in a few months.
Exercising in quarantine
It took me a couple of days to get into exercise mode, but when i did i felt much better than just lazing on the bed all day.
I set my phone timer to 5 minutes of exercise with 1 minute rest period between sets, I started with a mix of pushups, sit ups, squats, star jumps, shadow boxing, skipping and i jogged a few laps of of my hotel room.
Music playing on the phone made it easier to get into the exercise mode and by day 4 i was up to 50 minutes of exercise a day and clocking up 2 km of jogging in my room according to my garmin heart monitor watch.
Hotel Quarantine is AWESOME
Hotel quarantine has turned out to be not as bad as i expected, Infact it’s alot like my perfect holiday, nice hotel, good food, no wife telling me we have to do tourist stuff, lots of netflix and just chilling in the hotel..
A few things about hotel quarantine in Perth
(1) From Perth airport you have to take a taxi / uber to your hotel ( with your mask on)
(2) After 48 hours of arriving in WA and again on day 12 of your hotel quarantine you have to get a covid test.
With your mask on, You take an uber to the nearest covid testing place ( this can be found by googling covid testing near me), if your in hotel quarantein close to perth airport then your two options are Royal Perth Hospital or St John of God Midland Hospital. Both covid testing clinics will cost approx $20 each way in an uber. Save your receipts as it should be tax deductible.
(3) g2g now app has a countdown on when your quarantine will end. Most days you will receive a message on the app asking you to confirm your location by uploading a selfie to the app. When you receive the message from the app you have 5 minutes to respond with a photo of you in your hotel room. If you miss the message, you will receive a text message from WA POLICE asking you to open the app and upload your selfie. When you have received your covid test results you also need to upload the results to your g2g now app.
My advise to anyone that has to do 14 days hotel quarantine … enjoy the experience & try to come out of it better than when you went in. The time will go quick if your enjoying how you spend your time. Solitude is a great time to learn about Yourself.
BEST things I took into hotel quarantine.
- detergent for hand washing . If you forget this then you can order online from local supermarket. You can pay for hotel washing. But as its mostly easy stuff like socks, undies , t-shits, its easy to hand was in the sink and it also helps past some time.
- Pen and paper .. it was handy to have both to doodle on, take notes etc…
- Skipping rope .. Not everyone is into skipping but i found it a great way to add 20 -30 minutes to my daily exercise and its a good way to get your heart rate up during exercise..
- Music Instrument .. the guitar has been an awesome way to past the time in hotel quarantine. If your not into the guitar then consider other instruments such as harmonica , bongos, etc .
- NETFLIX .. has lots of movies and series to watch . You can also down load other apps such as binge and get a one month free trial on the app and get access to alot of good movie and tv shows.
ENJOY your hotel quarantine and i hope my post has helped you plan for your time in lock up.
July 2021
Winter in Queensland…
Home for a month as the WA border is closed to Queenslanders because of Covid. Loving the extra time with the baby. looking fwd to summer so we can swim. I brought a SHOTGUN baby bike seat for my mountain bike and have been cycling with the baby every day.. … ALOT of FuN and great bonding time.
Other Things … Working at Telfer is going well. Su is SUPER buzzy with her Massage business as ALWAYS. Moonshine & Lytafyre have not been doing so well last 12 months of racing. Lytafyre has a leg injury again so we have retired him and Moonshine has a cew issues so she has also retired from racing and has been put to stud.
We have our new horse MYBELLADONNA that has just started racing in NSW, she is showing alot of promise in her first few races and we hope 2021 – 2022 to be good times for her…. 2 more months intill Alyssa has her 2nd Birthday.
New Job @ Telfer WA
After 6 wonderful months as home dad during the Covid meltdown, My daddy day care days are coming to an end…. iTs BACK to WA for ME
Last day before flying to Perth
l start a new job driving a dump truck for Macmahons at the Newcreast Gold mine, Telfer Western Australia. Telfer Gold Mine is located on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia, 400km inland from Port Headland. I start in JAN 2021 … Living the DREAM.. Loving Life
Class of 2021 – January trainee dump truck operators
Standing next to a wheel on a Cat 789 Dump Truck
Lytafyre WINs @ the Gold Coast
Lytafyre Wins her first race with Hulbert Race team. He was retired in 2018 with a leg injuy from being run on hard ground with his previous trainer in NSW, after 12 months of R&R in the paddock, his leg was looking ok to have another go at racing. We sent him to Doombin to train and today was his first race. An eazy WIN on a soft 6 track with Lytafyre showing his usual speed and leading the whole race.
SuzyQ
SuzyQ is the latest addition to Dansu horse racing. She is an Astern foal. We breed her to sell at the Magic Millions sales but in her first week she has already shown the quality of her pedigree and we are now considering racing her our self’s rather than selling her at the Magic Millions sales on the Gold Coast. Final decision will be made at a later date… to be continued
Jimmy is BACK
After suffering a leg injury in 2018 from being run on hard ground in NSW, Jimmy AKA Lytafyre was retired from racing. Fast fwd a year and his injury has mended itself so we have decided to have another try at racing him. He has been in training the 6 weeks with Peter & Will Hulbert at Doombin and should be ready to race October – December wet season @ Brisbane. Jimmy is a SPEED machine, he clocked a top speed of 74kmph at one of his previous races in NSW in 2018. We are expecting BIG this from Jimmy in the 2020 – 2021 Racing season.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Alyssa
27th September .. Alyssa was 1 year old this week. How fast the 1st year has gone. She is a VERY out going and social girl. She is always smiling, has NO Fear, Loves Climbing things, Swimming in the Pool, Getting dirty in the garden.
Moonshine Lady
Moonshine Lady Career Summary
Moonshine Lady WON her Biggest race to date @ Doombin today with a $72,500 Winner purse and odds @$26 to WIN. Awesome ride by her jockey Adin Thompson and Will Hulbert the trainer.
Moonshine Lady has managed to win 6 races in her career so far. On 5th Sep 2020 at Doomben, Moonshine Lady scored her most significant win to date, getting the money in the $125,000 Fillies & Mares Qlty Hcp.
She has proven a profitable horse for the punters over the journey. If you had backed Moonshine Lady throughout her career you’d have achieved a 240% return on investment .
More BIG races coming during Spring racing 2020
