Dean Chapple: Moonbi reinsman achieves milestone at Tamworth Paceway

The milestone was achieved at Tamworth Paceway on Thursday, when he drove Lasseter Shannon to an all-the-way victory in the Mel Mara HBNSW Stallion Tender Pace (1980m).

The five-year-old gelding is from Chapple's stables. It was the first time he had driven the horse.

Chapple, a 35-year veteran, said "a lot of hard work has gone into those 700 wins".

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"I was pretty disappointed that I didn't hit the 700 wins last meeting with all the promotion that was going on," he said. "But I have got the monkey off my back now."

He added: "It was just good to get it out of the way and especially on a horse owned by the family."

Lasseter Shannon is raced by his wife, Julie

"He has made it a memorable milestone for us," Chapple said.

With a masterful front-running drive, the final turn saw Chapple have a "heart-in-mouth moment".

"I was pretty excited out in the lead but when I headed out of the final turn, I was a bit worried heading for home," he said.

"I saw Chris Shepherdson on the outside with Killara Insanity, and he was a last-start winner, and then I could hear [Anthony] Varga whistling up behind me.

"Varga was on my other horse, Smiling, and I knew he could finish off in the race. I thought they were going to go past me."

Lasseter Shannon, who started from the one barrier, was making his debut for the stables.

The former Western Districts pacer was also making a return to racing, with his previous start in November last year.

Lasseter Shannon has two wins from 27 starts, for almost $13,000 in prize money.

"It was our main aim to hit the front and lead," Chapple said. "The horse just kept plugging away during the race and felt comfortable on the line."

Lasseter Shannon had a 3.3m win over Killara Insanity, with Smiling a head away in third place.

Chapple said: "My son, Jack, and I have been working together with the horse at home, as we purchased him for Jack to get his reins licence with. So I am happy to say that Jack has done all the work with him.

The popular Moonbi trainer-reinsman received plenty of attention after the win.

"Every second person on track has shaken my hand and there are plenty of text messages to read when I get home tonight - it has been great," he said.

"My daughter, Elly, who is working down with Robbbie and KerryAnn Morris in Sydney, phoned me. She was emotional but happy."

Chapple has also had 1096 minor placings from over 4,500 drives, but he is unsure if he will be pushing for 1,000 wins.

"I will just keep doing what I am doing and hopefully the kids - Elly and Jack - will take over."

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