“I honestly didn’t think he could win!”

A NICE spell, coupled with maturity, appear to be working wonders with promising trotter The Dark Thunder.

Sent for a break following a handful of unplaced runs last December, The Dark Thunder is undefeated from two outings this campaign.

Scoring first-up in Bendigo a fortnight ago, the Mary-Jane Mifsud-trained gelding was then triumphant in yesterday’s Boort Trotters’ Cup.

Thrilled with The Dark Thunder’s performance, Mifsud revealed she was pleasantly surprised with the victory.

“I honestly didn’t think he could win,” Mifsud said. “For example, the one Chris (Alford) drove (Maestro) is a lot more seasoned and mentally tougher.

“I did think he could be in the placings, but to win was a terrific surprise.”

With Sean O’Sullivan holding the reins, The Dark Thunder began badly from the pole before breaking stride midrace to be a conservative 40 metres from the leader, El Conqueror.

Upon catching the field at the bell, the son of Skyvalley was angled away from the pegs and into the ‘death seat’.

Digging deep during the concluding stages, The Dark Thunder scored by a metre-and-a-half from Maestro.

El Conqueror battled on to be 16 metres away third in 2:09.3 over a waterlogged 2612 metres.

“After he missed the start, which put him in a tough position, Sean said he didn’t really like the wet on the inside, which is why he took him away from the pegs as soon as he caught up with the others,” Mifsud said.

“He never stopped chasing and did a wonderful job to win.”

Part-owned by Mifsud with her children Charlie and Lilly-Rose, The Dark Thunder is likely to continue following the country cups trial in coming weeks.

“I’m not sure where he will go next, but I will look for another country cup and aim for that,” Mifsud said. “He does show a lot of ability, but hits behind badly and is a little injury-prone.

“He did well during this time off and has matured a bit, which is making a difference.

“While he is keeping it all together and going this well, he should be able to pick up a couple more wins this time in.”