Oriental Owen On Track For Nine Straight

PROLIFIC winner Oriental Owen shoots for nine straight wins when he steps out at Mandurah on Thursday night for WA trainer Stephen Richards.

WHEN Stephen Richards purchased Oriental Owen as a tried performer back in July 2018 he did so in the hope he might work through his grades and pick up a win here and there.

On Thursday night at Mandurah the son of Awesome Project will be shooting for career win 49 and his ninth victory in succession.

"We paid $5,000 for him from memory so he's turned out to be a fantastic buy – he's won over $60,000 now," Richard said.

"He'd won six races in NSW when we got him but wasn't going to run 500 so he looked like he might be a nice dog for WA.

"We obviously hoped he'd win some races but to win 42 for us, well you never envisage that will happen. And the thing is he seems to be only getting better the older he gets."

Oriental Owen takes his place in race seven at Mandurah on Thursday night over the 302m as the winner of eight straight.

His overall record stands at a remarkable 48 wins from 88 starts at a winning strike-rate of 55 percent.

"He just loves competition," Richards said.

"If I trial him solo he'll just go average – even slower than maidens I have. But if I trialled him with those maidens he'd beat them easy – that's him, he just loves the competition.

"He cops a bit for never winning by far but he wins and he's racing good dogs too in free for alls every week."

With Richards not enjoying the best of health recently, race night responsibilities rest with the 64-year-old's daughter Helen.

"The other trainers keep asking Helen at the track when I'm going to retire him," Richards said with a chuckle.

"My health hasn't been great so Helen goes to the track and my wife Susan and I watch at home. We've got six in work and things have been going well lately, I think we've won with six of our last nine runners."

Watching Oriental Owen go about his business can sometimes be an exercise for thrill seeking punters, taking short prices over the sprint trips.

And while rising 4 ½ years of age, Richards is confident that there's plenty of miles left in his star sprinter's legs.

"He knows the race day routine inside out," Richards said.

"When he has a small meal in the morning like he did today he knows it's race day so we try and keep him as settled as we can.

"They're not stupid – he knows exactly what's going on.

"He can be a bit standoffish with people he doesn't know but here at home he's great. Just a nice quiet dog."

Fully aware that his charge's winning sequence will come to an end at some stage, Richards is hopeful the streak will continue Thursday night.

"Every win gets you closer to a loss," Richards said.

"I've just bought two more from Glenn McKinley who sold me Oriental Owen and said to him they've got a lot to live up to now.

"If they don't win 40 races I'll be disappointed!"

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