It was a Sunday to remember for Linsay and Kris Potter whose 51-year wedding anniversary turned into a double celebration, with their bold trotter Sonny Brooke capturing the Hillcroft Stables Stawell Trotters Cup.
Linsay Potter bred and trained the now six-year-old Majestic Son gelding and, with a flawless front-running performance in John Caldow’s hands, Sonny Brooke recorded the greatest win of his 53-start career.
“It is our wedding anniversary, we had a dinner planned anyway tonight, but it’s going to have a bit extra for us,” Potter told TrotsVision post-race.
“He’s been with us for seven years now, I bred him myself, broke him in, trained him. He’s always shown a bit, but it’s good to see him getting up today.”
Potter trained Sonny Brooke for his first 24 starts before handing the keys to Maree and John Caldow and the latter drove the trotter a treat yesterday, stepping to the front and then rating the race to perfection to hold out the likes of Maori’s Idol Trotting Championship leader Well Defined and favourite Queen Of Crime.
“He’s a lovely horse,” John Caldow told TrotsVision. “He deserves to win a cup. He tries hard, the long distance always suits him.”
A 29.3-second final quarter was enough to hold on by a half-neck from fast-finishing Blue Coman and stop the clock in a 2:03.2 mile rate, a new track record.
“I found the front and just had to make sure he was going fast enough so they wouldn’t attack him but slow enough that he had enough. It worked out well,” Caldow said.
“He seems to struggle over 2000 when they go a bit quick for him, but over this longer journey he keeps running. We had this race planned for him, he went around at Yarra Valley on Monday and went really good and that topped him off for today.”
HILLCROFT STABLES STAWELL TROTTERS CUP
The Renown Silverware Stawell Pacing Cup was also an all-the-way affair with Our Millionaire dominant for Emma Stewart and Jodi Quinlan to add to his last start win in the St Arnaud Pacing Cup.
The leader didn’t see another horse until the last lap-and-a-half of the 2600-metre race, enabling him to trundle through a lead time that was almost as slow as the standing start trotters and then produce a 33-second first quarter.
That meant it would be a sprint to the line and Our Millionaire had all the answers when Perfect Stride lobbed to the breeze, getting home in a 54.3-second last half to score by 8.3 metres with Perfect Stride second and Rick Reilly third.
It was a result enjoyed by the $45,000 Cup winner’s big group of owners and Quinlan told TrotsVision “it’s good to see the crowd back … the boys really enjoy their racing and good to see them here to cheer him home”.
“I couldn’t believe my luck early,” she said. “He rocketed out today, never missed a beat. He actually felt super the whole way and he was never in doubt.”
The victory improves Our Millionaire to fifth on the Trots Country Cups Championship, which concludes with Saturday night’s $75,000 Decron Cranbourne Gold Cup and the $25,000 Bruce Skeggs Memorial Cranbourne Trotters Cup.
Pacer Malcolms Rhythm and trotter Well Defined hold unassailable leads in the cups, which each carry $25,000 bonuses to the winner, with the owner gifted $15,000 and the trainer $10,000.
RENOWN SILVERWARE STAWELL PACING CUP
