Majestuoso has signalled in no uncertain terms that he is ready to claim the mantle as Australia’s number one trotter.
The five-year-old produced a stunning first-up performance to capture the Group 3 Haras Des Trotteurs Wagon Apollo Trotters Free For All (2100m) at Geelong on Saturday night.
The Andy Gath-trained Majestuoso came from last with 1000m to go to run down leader and favourite Sleepee with a scintillating finishing burst despite later being found to have lost a shoe in running.
While he had only a neck to spare on the line, the win was far more convincing than the margin suggested as Kath Gath timed her drive to perfection.
Keayang Livana was third after going three wide early to sit outside Sleepee.
Kath Gath was in awe of Majestuoso, telling Trots Vision the son of Majestic Son “wasn’t entitled to win” from where he settled.
“I thought he was outstanding. He wasn’t entitled to win, but he did win,” she said.
She said as impressive as his trial against the pacers had been leading up to his return, it was still difficult to go wide and give the leaders such a big start as he did.
Gath was able to give Majestuoso some momentary respite going into the home bend.
“He was still travelling all right then and I was really happy to drop in and give him a little breather,” she said.
“When I did that, he just dropped the bit for a little bit and just got a little bit rough and I didn’t know if that was a good idea. But it did give him that little bit of a breather. I do think it helped.”
Gath said the run had reinforced how tough the gelding was, and with the potential he was showing, felt he would be extremely dangerous in any races he contested.
“He’s an exciting horse. Because we’ve said he’s probably going to be our next best trotter, people may have got really carried away,” she said.
“He’s not there yet, but he does have the potential to do it as you’ve seen tonight. He has good speed and can do a little bit of work too, so he’s really exciting.”
Majestuoso, who was having his first race appearance since February, now has 17 wins in 36 starts for more than $230,000 in earnings.
WATCH MAJESTUOSO’S WIN BELOW:
The horse completed a feature double for Kate Gath.
She also guided the Emma Stewart-trained Always Fast to an overdue win in the $24,000 Flying Brick Cider Preux Chevalier Free For All (2100m).
Gath produced a masterful front-running drive, dictating terms and giving nothing else a chance as Always Fast eased away by 5.5m from a hard-finishing Triple Eight, with Malcolms Rhythm third.
Always Fast covered the first 800m of the last mile in a leisurely 64.1sec and then opened up to run home in 28.4sec and 27.7sec to rate 1:59.5min.
Gath said it was satisfying to see the five-year-old – a half-brother of boom pacer Ride High – break through for his first win of the season.
“It was just good to have a bit of luck on him tonight. I’ve sort of been luckless on him. It was really good to get the win tonight,” she said.
Gath said the race had panned out as she thought it would from barrier one, with no one really wanting to be outside the leader and apply any pressure.
She said Always Fast was a good sit-sprinter and she had been keen to use the draw.
“I was confident he’d be able to lead and once he did that, he was definitely going to be hard to beat,” she said.
It was easy to see why she would be so confident from the front. Always Fast now has 10 wins to his name and on each occasion he has led.
WATCH ALWAYS FAST’S WIN BELOW:
Champion reinsman Chris Alford took the driving honours for the night with a treble.
He saluted in back-to-back races on Soho Bollinger for trainer Michael Stanley in the Congratulations Jake Ballestrino Paralympian Winter Championship heat (2100m) and Kyvalley Chief for Brent Lilley in the Yabby Dam Farms Trot (2100m), and then with the Amanda Grieve-trained Mach Le More in the Christmas In July Winter Championship heat (2100m).
