SUPREME Dominator announced himself among the trots’ elite with a bold late strike to capture the Decron Cranbourne Pacing Cup and gift his trainer and driver their richest wins.
Reinsman James Herbertson tagged on to Grand Circuit winning mare Amazing Dream’s back and then let down in the sprint to the line to capture the $75,000 Group 2 for trainer Joe Pace, celebrating with a hearty salute.
“He’s a lovely horse, he’s done a super job,” Herbertson told TrotsVision. “I think it was only six or seven starts back here he broke the track record in a country class race. To go as far as he has in such a short amount of time is a credit to the horse and a credit to Joe as well.”
For Pace, the victory far outshadows his previous high watermark – the $30,000 race wins by Rock N Roll Chapel and Diamond Party – while for 21-year-old Herbertson it also goes to the top of the pile, eclipsing his $50,000 Australasian Trotting Championship win with Savannah Jay Jay.
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Watching Gav (Lang) and Chris (Alford) battle it out every year in these sort of races, always wanted to win country cups more than probably the main races really,” Herbertson said. “I’m living the dream at the moment, to be 21 and doing it – I never thought it would be happening this early if ever.”
Herbertson and Supreme Dominator had to show pace, then patience and then pace again to claim the coveted Group 2, being quick out from gate one to hold out Bettor Be The Bomb and then handing up when Amazing Dream came knocking.
It was then a matter of letting the 2555-metre classic play out, and opportunity knocked with Amazing Dream doing work to get to the front and key rivals Copy That and General Dodge three-wide for a significant stint.
“The speed early was nice,” Herbertson said. “(Anthony Butt on Amazing Dream) did a bit of work early and then (Chris Svanosio on Copy That) was doing enough as well, so we were just getting a lovely, cosy trip in there.
“The first half of the last mile wasn’t overly strong which did worry me a little bit, we weren’t bowling along that much, but at the end of the day the horse’s sprint, the way he just goes through his gears – it’s won him the race.”
New Zealand Trotting Cup winner Copy That, who had sat in the breeze for much of the journey, had run his race by the final turn, enabling Herbertson to peel off Amazing Dream’s back ahead of the sprint lane and make his victory play.
Off a 28.4-second third quarter they crashed the line in 27.7, with Supreme Dominator pipping a brave Amazing Dream by a head to claim the cup for owners Sam Castro and Charlie Sant.
“He was up in class massively, he’s gone to the absolute top echelon now,” Herbertson said. “We were just happy to be here and it was going to be a good test for him. To be able to come out on top – it’s very good.
“Going forward I’m sure he’ll contest a few more country cups, but he probably doesn’t need to overrace him – he’s a lovely horse who’s going to have a long career. He’s found a nice one.”
TONIGHT’S leg of the Trots Country Cups Championship was the last of the year, with Malcolms Rhythm and Well Defined topping the respective pacing and trotting premierships.
While neither fronted at Cranbourne tonight, both already had the titles in the bag before the gates opened, with Kate Hargreaves-trained Well Defined a runaway winner in the Maori’s Idol Trotting Championship, having won five cups across the season.
Well Defined almost doubled second placed The Penny Drops in the standings, while David Aiken-trained Malcolms Rhythm’s 25 points had him six clear of Fourbigmen in the pacing championship.
HAVEHORSEWILLTRAVEL capped a great season on the country cups circuit with a commanding victory in tonight’s Hygain Bruce Skeggs Memorial Trotters Cup.
The victory was the Andy Gath-trained trotter’s third country cup of the season, having won at Cobram back on January 10 and then at Yarra Valley at his last start on November 4.
He showed no ill effects of the six-week break between runs tonight, with Kate Gath tapping into Havehorsewilltravel’s noted gate speed and he was never really threatened.
“He’s definitely back to his best,” Gath told TrotsVision. “When you’ve got gate speed it’s just gold, he’s got it in spades and that got him the race tonight.”
There was little pressure on Havehorsewilltravel throughout the 2555-metre long distance affair, with Gath able to stroll through a 32.6-second second quarter before putting the hammer down in the last half when the challengers emerged.
Among them was favourite Majestic Man, but he was unable to make in-roads in the 27.6 third quarter and it would be a pegs dominated affair, with leader Havehorsewilltravel scoring by 1.9 metres from Hatchback.
“My bloke felt really comfortable but I was aware we weren’t doing too much. I was keeping an eye out that (Anthony Butt on Majestic Man) didn’t come really quick or something.
“Once that last mile came up I thought we’ll just keep rolling and make it as hard as we can for Majestic Man and lucky we were able to do that.”
It was a performance that gave Gath confidence that more trophies could be on the horizon for another promising Norm Jenkin-owned trotter.
“I always thought he probably was (off the best ones), but he’s only five and he’s only had 33 starts, so he’s really lightly raced and he’s not very seasoned,” Gath said. ”I think he’s getting a little bit better all the time. His gate speed really helps him and he’s a lovely horse. Probably country cups at this stage, but who knows?”
A COUPLE of recently arrived New Zealanders carried big expectations into tonight’s card but produced mixed results.
Dean Braun’s three-year-old filly Im Off N Gone has a Group 1 to her credit and was well supported in the Cranbourne Fencing Pace, but she failed to threaten and instead it was a US bred filly, Faraday Hanover, who led and won comfortably for Emma Stewart and Connor Clarke.
Lance Justice enjoyed more success with Over The Odds, who was third at Melton in his Australian debut and then backed up with the second win of his career in the Woodlands Stud Pace, holding well fancied Shes A Hovercraft to win by three metres.
The trainer-driver likes what he’s seen in the Sportswriter gelding, telling TrotsVision “I’m hoping for the big stuff, I’ll aim for the top”.
“I thought tonight’s race was a nice race to start off with, there were horses with a bit of promise in there, but there wasn’t a lot of displayed form,” Justice said.
“He’s run three quarters under 29, so I really like him. I think he’s all right.”
FORM analysts had their hands full unravelling the Blue Hills Rinse Pace, the first leg of the quaddie, but 100 metres into the middle-distance race it was all but done and dusted.
From the second row draw, reinsman Bailey McDonough had Somewhere Secret on Huli Nien’s back from the start and followed John Justice through as he rolled to the top.
McDonough advanced on to the lead before the field had even hit the back straight and from there Emma Stewart’s veteran seven-year-old was barely challenged, recording his first win since Boxing Day last year.
“It was perfect,” McDonough told TrotsVision. “It got a little bit tight there but managed to squeeze through and once we got to the top it was just jokes from there.”
