THERE is a story behind every winner and while not all winners are popular with punters, their owners invariably take great delight in any measure of success.

Colourful owner John Finlayson did not have a cent on his Mike de Kock-trained gelding Internal Audit, a 33-1 victor under apprentice Keagan De Melo at Scottsville on Sunday, but among dozens of winners in his green-and-yellow silks this one gave him to an extra degree of pleasure.

Internal Audit wins well, and liked the feeling! (Gold Circle).

He tells: “We fancied Internal Audit to win first time out but he trailed in last, beaten 32 lengths. We thought that he’d do better at the coast so I sent him to Mike at Summerveld, where the team expressed concern about his breathing as he was making funny noises at the pull-up after his workouts.

“But he kept showing promise and won his first race for Mike four months after joining the stable, racing from the front. His breathing remained problematic and we knew his courage and ability won him the race.  His breathing problem prevented him from doing anywhere near his best in his runs following his win, but he’s a big beaut of a horse and I like to give my horses every chance of reaching their potential.

“We decided to call on the help of Dr John McVeigh’s team at Baker and McVeigh. I met ‘Dr Johnny Iris’ who examined him and reported that one side of Internal Audit’s larynx was totally paralyzed.

“Johnny operated and cut away the useless muscle around the larynx. He put in a small prosthesis which allowed the nerve to conduct impulses so that the horse could breathe. I have to say I work in hospital theatres every day of my life and I’ve never come across a guy who was so interested in his operation, also open with information and thorough in the way he went about it.

“Internal Audit was sent to Nicola and Mark at Balmoral Farm where he recovered and Nathan Kotzen and I communicated regularly about his progress. Nathan drove to Balmoral after a few months and reported that he, Johnny and Nicola agreed that it was time to put him back in training.

“He finished seven lengths behind the winner in his first start back and Nathan reported that he had breathed satisfactorily. Then I received notice that he was entered to race over 1400m at Scottsville on Sunday – the course and distance of his Maiden win – and when Nathan told me he would race with a tongue tie and was doing well I was convinced that he would win again!

“I didn’t have a wager because he drifted in the market and I decided to watch the race without a betting interest, but the fact that he won so nicely was a huge thrill. If you watch him, especially close to the winning line, you can see in his face he was enjoying it, almost as if saying “this is what I can do!’ ”

“My thanks to all in the stable for their patient efforts.”