A star French trotter is poised to add a huge international twist to Australia’s biggest trotting race.
Kristal Josselyn, a winner of $523,874 and six races in the trotting powerhouse of France, is right on target for the $250,000 Group 1 Great Southern Star at Melton on February 14.
It revives memories of 2024 when the French-bred Callmethebreeze upstaged champion local Just Believe to win the Great Southern Star.
Kristal Josselyn looks a serious X-factor to what many felt was a stroll towards a new $500,000 bonus for freakish local mare Keayang Zahara in the Great Southern Star.
Trainer-driver Luke McCarthy said Kristal Josselyn, the six-year-old stallion, would make his first Australian public appearance in a Menangle trial on Wednesday.
“If he goes as well as we expect, I’ll take him to Victoria for his first run at Kilmore (February 7),” McCarthy said.
“He’s been with me since Melbourne Cup Day and it’s been a long, steady build-up because he came off a spell and his coat was all hairy.
“It’s really been this past couple of weeks where it’s all come together for him. He looks great and he’s working really well.
“I love him. I know the French trotters are renowned for being strong, but he’s fast, too.
“Going on his work, he’s as fast as most pacers.”
The comparisons with Callmethebreeze are inevitable given he raced just once in Australia for a second at Ballarat before winning a heat and final of the Great Southern Star.
Kristal Josselyn was bought from France by well-known Queensland-based owner Norm Jenkin, who has such a strong connection to the Great Southern Star.
Jenkin teamed with Andy and Kate Gath to win the Great Southern Star twice with former champion Tornado Valley (2020 and ’21) and again with Majestuoso in 2022.
“It’s a special race to me. I’m thrilled this horse looks like he’s on target for it,” Jenkin said.
“I’ve brought horses in from the US with other partners in the past and have wanted to do it again by myself for a while now.
“I’ve really grown to love the trotters, they’ve been great to me, and that’s how this idea came about.”
Jenkin asked NSW-based trainer Anton Golino, who has spent lots of time working in France and the US and has strong global connections, to help him find a suitable horse.
“After watching many, many replays, we landed on this horse,” Jenkin said.
“We’ve kept it quiet until now because horses can make fools of you, but he’s almost ready to race and so far, so good.
“I’m hearing all the right things from Luke and hopefully the next few weeks go well and he can be there on Great Southern Start night.”
Trained in France by Sebastien Guarato, Kristal Josselyn enjoyed a stellar four-year-old season in the major races, including four wins.
His biggest victory came in the Group 2 Prix Victor Regis at the iconic Vincennes track in Paris in September, 2023.
He also won the Group 2 Prix Phaeton-Criterium at Vincennes in August 2024.
PHOTOS: Courtesy SEFT-BVDV
