Stephen Dixon announced his return to training when Bonnie Ev produced an eye-catching win on Saturday but it almost didn't happen.
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The workload was getting on top of the Tamworth trainer after having a triple bypass "a bit more than two years ago".
Dixon decided it was time for a break after owner Errol French - who Dixon trained for - passed away in November last year.
So in January, Dixon started an 11-month hiatus from training.
"You have your days. You're good one day and crook the next," Dixon said.
"I was training for Errol, I had up to 15 or so horses with him. Now I've cut back. I've only got two in work at the moment. That'll do me.
"With just a couple, if you are a bit crook you can give them a day off and my brother Kevin helps me a bit with them. I've got track work riders who help me out as well."
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The 55-year-old is still coming to accept he can't do everything he used to.
"I used to be riding horses from 5 o'clock to 5 o'clock but I just can't do them things anymore," he said.
"It kills ya because you know you could once do it but now you can't."
During his break, there was a point where Dixon thought he might give the game away completely but he's glad he didn't - especially after Bonnie Ev's race debut in Gunnedah.
She was paying $71 to win and when she bombed the start, that price looked about right.
However, the mare quickly made up the four lengths she'd given her rivals.
She then showed an impressive turn of foot to blow the other horses away and win by 1.5 lengths.
It was a reward for Dixon's hard work with the four-year-old.
"She's still learning to gallop. It took about eight months for her to get ready for that race," Dixon told the Leader.
"I bought her as a two-year-old, as well as her sister, through Bloodstock Auctions.
"When I got them, they weren't ready to break in. I fed her up, gave her time and started breaking her in about 12 and a half months ago."
Dixon thought Bonnie Ev could win a Highway Handicap in Sydney but it won't be under the Tamworth trainer.
After her win on Saturday, Dixon's phone has been "ringing hot" from prospective buyers.
By Tuesday, Bonnie Ev had found a new home.
"She was very hard to sell but it was too good an offer to knock back," Dixon said.
"It's a day-by-day proposition with my heart and she's going to go to a good home up on the Gold Coast.
"She'll probably race in Brisbane and she has a lot of improvement to come.
Dixon added: "It's going to to be a shame to see her go because she's got a few more wins in her."
While Bonnie Ev has found a new home, her full sister Bonnie Off will be staying with Dixon.
"With a bit of luck, her full sister will come into work now," Dixon said,
"She's a five-year-old but she's always been a little bit smaller, never really developed properly but she's quite a nice mare. She's ready to go on with it."
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
