Bill West
Rhythmic Dragon has provided well-known trainer Liam Howley with his first winner since moving his team back to Macedon Lodge last week.
Four-year-old Rhythmic Dragon broke through when he came from well back in the field in a 1590m Maiden at Wodonga on Friday.
Ridden by Mitchell Aitken, the short-priced favourite settled back in the field and came with a sustained run to beat Peniche by a length.
Rhythmic Dragon was having his 12th race start, and was back on the water walker at the state-of-the-art Macedon Lodge the next day.
Howley, who spent nearly 10 years at Macedon Lodge when it was owned by multiple Melbourne Cup winning owner and businessman Lloyd Williams, is thrilled to be back as a tenant in very familiar surroundings.
He has been training in the Macedon Ranges from a property located at Pipers Creek, near Kyneton, since setting up business under the Liam Howley Racing banner.
The trainer intends to largely concentrate on his substantial team of young horses in the immediate future, and one of his major ambitions is to eventually win the prestigious Cox Plate.
With younger gallopers available, he has also been able to attract interest by some new owners to the sport.
In outlining the credentials of Macedon Lodge, Howley said last week he considers the property has been under utilised in regards to the number of thoroughbreds trained there in the past.
He predicts there is scope for Macedon Lodge to eventually cater for 150 to 200 gallopers at some stage in the future, with several trainers having their teams there.
