ON Wednesday night Chris Frisby ticked over a milestone in his training career with win number 400, but even with all the success he has enjoyed, he still dreams of more.
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Frisby was not at the Bathurst Paceway to witness win number 400, instead he was in New Zealand preparing his stable star Our Uncle Sam for the final heat of the 2019 Inter Dominion series.
While Our Uncle Sam was thrust into the spotlight 12 months ago when he produced a bold run to place second in the Inter Dominion Grand Final, he had only managed a ninth and 10th placing in his first two heats of this year's series in New Zealand.
That leaves Our Uncle Sam needing to run second in Auckland on Friday night from a tricky barrier six draw to advance and is one of the reasons behind Frisby's desire to triumph against master trainers Mark and Barry Purdon in the future.
Mark Purdon boasts seven Inter Dominion Grand Final wins, five coming in the trotting series while in the pacing series he went back-to-back with Smolda (2016) and Lazarus (2017). Barry Purdon also boasts a win with Baltic Eagle (2003).
"Hopefully one day I'll have one that is good enough to take to New Zealand and beat Purdon's runners," Frisby said.
"They're great trainers with large numbers, so it's hard to compete against them, but hopefully one day we can."
While it remains to be seen what Frisby's runners will do in the future, on Wednesday at Bathurst his three-year-old Fornaroli found success.
While son Anthony was down to drive the gelding, he was required at the hospital for the birth of his daughter so Chris Frisby's niece Amanda Turnbull stepped in at the last minute.
Turnbull had driven the gelding in his first career start, a fourth placing in October, so she already had a feel for him.
"I've driven him before and told Chris that I liked him," Turnbull said in a post-race interview.
"He was a bit green but I thought he'd win one, so it was good that he could get his bonus."
READ MORE: Turnbull hopes Sonny will shine in the Sydney Cup
Going from barrier three as an $11 chance in the Bathurst RSL Club Pace (1,730 metres), Fornaroli was still looking to notch up his maiden win.
Turnbull settled him in third, facing the breeze on the outside of Jedda Shannon while Mister Mysterious led the way.
As they hit the top of the home straight Fornaroli had the lead, going on to win by a short-half-head over $1.40 favourite The Ethletic.
Reaching 400 wins was a milestone that Frisby was completely oblivious of. He has enjoyed a host of successes during his career, including a Group 1 victory with Our Uncle Sam, campaigning Uncle Lile in the United States, and taking out the Shirley Turnbull Memorial with Dinki Di.
"I had no idea until Mel [Frisby's daughter] messaged me after the race," Frisby admits. "I don't really have any goals that I set, I just take what can and enjoy the good times as they come."
Although Frisby normally has less than six horse in work, he currently has a strong team boosted by some promising two-year-olds.
He trialled six of those juveniles on November 25 at Bathurst with colt He Aint Fakin beating home Our Uncle Harold by a half neck.
"Our numbers are up at the moment, we have a lot of two-year-olds coming through. They're the future really," he said. "There's a few nice ones coming through but I do like Our Uncle Dan and He Aint Fakin."
He Aint Fakin is well bred, being out of a full sister to champion pacer Blacks A Fake. That Group One winning gelding notched up 72 victories during his 105 race-start career, earning over $4.5 million or his owners.
The main target for Frisby's two-year-olds will be the feature Gold Crown and Gold Tiara series to be staged at Bathurst in March as part of the Gold Crown Carnival.
No doubt the trainer would love to see his tally climb towards 500 at the annual event.