The untapped brilliance of General Dodge was unleashed at Geelong tonight and within a couple of stunning strides Mick Chircop’s hard-luck horse reminded of his top-tier talent.
The eight-year-old Courage Under Fire gelding, who was bred by Alabar Farms to Sheza Keeper, was having only his 18th trip to the race track but delivered his 13th win, with Jason Lee unleashing his exceptional speed at each end of the TAB Captain Sandy Free For All.
“He’s had such limited racing and usually it’s hard to go out against a field like that,” Lee told Trots Vision. “His preparation has been very limited and he did it with absolute ease, more or less untouched, the plugs still in.”
It was the headliner on a night full of headlines at Geelong, including Riley Butt steering his first Victorian winner for dad Tim, Big Jack Hammer returning to the winner’s list over Tornado Valley, two-year-old filly Irish Black Label stamping herself one to watch on debut and then Teetreetommy boxed home brilliantly to salute for Mick Barby and Anne-Maree Conroy.
And that doesn’t even include James Herbertson’s rare double, clipping Geelong’s mile record with Steel Screens in the fifth (1:53.5) and then smashing it in the last with Honolua Bay (1:51.9).
But it’s General Dodge whose name will be most uttered around water coolers on Monday morning and he certainly had Lee buzzing post-race.
“I was pretty excited when I got the opportunity to drive him in the trials and was then offered the drive on him race night,” Lee said. “Always watched him from afar and thought he was very good.
“I always said Chilli Palmer, I only got to drive him once, was probably the quickest horse (I’d driven) for point-to-point speed, but I think this guy’s definitely probably got him. He’s freakish what he can do within 50 metres.”
General Dodge showed that speed at both ends, ripping from the gate to cover favourite Pacifico Dream and hold the lead until Josh Aiken emerged on Reactor Now. It was a scenario that even surprised Lee.
“I was just going to poke out steady to be honest, my ideal scenario was to try and end up one-one,” he said. “The boys said he gets out fair, he gets out OK, but he’s not blistering.
“He came out and we were looking all right, so I just gave him a slap on the rump and he went straight across them.
“I was umming and arghing whether to hold up or take cover and I just went with the more conservative approach because it’s been so long. When I drove him in the trials coming off speed he’s really dynamic and scary, scary fast. I think he could have led tonight and done things just as easy.”
Instead Lee was able to bide his time until the sprint lane opened and when he did he rocketed past Reactor Now amid a 27.4-second last quarter to win by 8.7 metres, with Boncel Benjamin next best for Steven Duffy and David Moran.
It was a stunning performance for a horse who hadn’t raced since February last year and was having only his third start since June 2018, gifting trainer Chircop some reward for perseverance.
“There’s always big hype on these horses and we need these sort of horses going around to make racing exciting. It’s disappointing when they’re not, but obviously the horse comes first and these guys have always done that with him,” Lee said.
“All credit goes to Mick and all his crew, they’ve done a great job with him. He’s definitely not an easy horse to train. They’ve been patient, it’s just great to be able to reward them tonight with a win like that. Just hopefully they can keep him in one piece. He’s scary what he can do.
“(For Mick), he’s like his child, he’s in love with him and you can see why – I’m in love with him now too. It probably goes to show the little guy in harness racing can still get a good horse and still beat the best. It’s a credit to him and his hard working team. He knows what he’s doing and is a great trainer, he only has a little team but his little team always run great races.”
RELIVE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF GENERAL DODGE’S WIN:
