Samantha Barr won’t give up her day job, even if stable recruit Molto Bene becomes the Adelaide trainer’s first Flemington winner on Saturday.
Barr works full-time as a veterinary nurse at a practice adjoining the Morphettville racecourse while preparing a six-horse team but the numbers are growing.
But Barr says the heavy workload is a blessing rather than a burden.
“I’m a glutton for punishment because I don’t do sitting down very well,” Barr said.
“A lot of people here at the track say I should stop working as a nurse but I enjoy it because I learn something new every day.”
Barr is preparing to get busier in the coming weeks with Molto Bene being part of a group of horses belonging to Adelaide owner Brenton Scott to join her stable.
She is also expecting a yearling to arrive from Perth while other clients have approached her to take on their horses.
“I’m starting to get a good bunch of clients behind me but I’m quite happy to keep pottering away,” Barr said.
Molto Bene will have her first run for Barr in either Melbourne or Adelaide on Saturday.
Barr has entered the mare in the Green Fields Handicap (1400m) at Flemington and the Group Three Proud Miss Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville.
The trainer will accept for both races before deciding which race to tackle with wet ground at either venue likely to sway her decision.
Molto Bene won at Listed level at Flemington last spring but has struggled in top company in four subsequent runs, which prompted a change of stable.
Barr said Molto Bene needed wet tracks to perform at her best but pleased connections with her effort in a jump-out on Tuesday morning.
“She was originally going to the paddock for a break but her owner saw the opportunity to race on wet tracks through the winter,” Barr said.