IT is a touch more than 22 years since John Justice held aloft Shakamaker’s Melbourne Inter Dominion trophy.
Now he’s aiming at the great race, but this time with an emerging trotter in Mufasa Metro.
I’m loving the fact Justice is back as a feature race player.
Justice enjoyed a stellar career in Adelaide before making a huge splash when he moved to Victoria through superstars Shakamaker, Safe And Sound and Lenin. He also won the NSW Derby with Lennytheshark.
In retrospect, the only “bad luck” he had back in those heady days was the fact Shakamaker and Safe And Sound came along at almost exactly the same time. Both enjoyed amazing careers, but no doubt having them a few years apart would have extended the joy for Justice.
But now Justice is aiming at the big races again with his exciting four-year-old trotter Mufasa Metro.
We saw a glimpse of the high-priced former Kiwi’s potential when he won The Holmfield last season, but he didn’t go on with it.
Clearly bigger, better and more of a complete horse now, Mufasa Metro has looked fantastic winning his past two starts, including last Saturday night’s Vulcan Trotters’ free-for-all.
Things will only get harder, but his gate speed will be a big weapon as he continues to march through the grades towards the Inter Dominion later this year and Great Southern Star beyond that.
IT is great to see the Riverina back in the harness spotlight.
Jason Grimson and Cam Hart are setting the harness world alight. Both are quick to point-out their Riverina heritage.
When I was first getting right into harness racing, the Riverina was held in such high regard and boasted such a proud history.
Paleface Adios, aka the Temora Tornado, was THE iconic Riverina pacer. There’s a statue of him in Temora.
Grimson is from Young, about 90 minutes from Wagga, and Hart from nearby Junee.
The Riverina boys combined for something rare and special when Majestic Cruiser upstaged NZ’s best pacers to win the Group 1 Messenger at Auckland’s Alexandra Park last Friday night.
Many blinkered Kiwis harped-on about how big Self Assured was in running second, but you only need watch the replay to see how mighty Majestic Cruiser’s win was. Nothing went better in the race.
And this from a pacer who looked completely at sea just a week earlier in the Taylor Mile.
Grimson could have been forgiven for packing his bags and taking Majestic Cruiser back home after the Taylor Mile, but instead he saw it as a challenge and an opportunity.
“Even though he didn’t handle the track, didn’t know what to do and got lost, he actually wasn’t beaten that far. The run itself was good, if that makes sense,” Grimson said.
“Mark Purdon saw me after the race and buoyed me even further when he said the horse would improve a lot next week, he said most horses do after racing around Alexandra Park for the first time.
“I made some gear changes, mainly taking off his (lugging) pole and going back to basics. Once I’d worked him the Alexandra Park direction around Pukekohe, I started to get confident. I knew he was up to them after he ran so well (second) at Cambridge (in The Race).”
Yes, the truly run race suited him, but Majestic Cruiser still had to run his own last half in 55.6 seconds, deal with being pushed four-wide on the final bend and still powered clear to win by a length-and-a-half.
Oh, and he smashed the national record as well.
It continued Grimson’s marvellous past six months or so, which kick-started when he won the Sydney Inter Dominion final on protest with Boncel Benjamin. Boncel Benjamin and Majestic Cruiser are both recycled Victorian pacers.
Leviathan Geelong-based owner Danny Zavitsanos is the latest to jump aboard the Grimson express.
“Danny’s got four or five with me now, including Ideal Dan, who I’m taking to Queensland for The Rising Sun. He’d be the best owner I’ve ever had. A fantastic bloke,” Grimson said.
“I’m taking a big team to Queensland. Majestic Cruiser for the Sunshine Sprint and Blacks A Fake, Ideal Dan, Sugar Apple and a few others.”
The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.