Star Major easily wins Tasmania Cup Heat

New South Wales-trained harness racing pacer Star Major (Art Major)($2.50 fav) took the first spot in the upcoming Group 1 Tasmania Cup, scoring by 11m in the opening heat (2579m) in Hobart on Friday night.

The pacer is trained by former Tasmanian James Rattray, who gave driving responsibilities for the race to his twin brother Gareth.

The five-time metropolitan Menangle winner stepped brilliantly from his front-row handicap to lead and was kept honest in the middle stages when Mickey Oh progressed three-wide near the mile in search of the position outside of the leader but was unable to get that position when Colby Sanz took charge of it’s driver.

As a result, they broke the 30s for every quarter of the final Mile running: 28.9s, 29.8s, 29.6s and 28.5s, with Star Major racing away from his rivals at the 250m to defeat All By Myself ($5) and Mickey Oh ($4.40).

The mile rate was 1:59.7s. To put that into some sort of perspective, when the Tasmania Cup was reverted back to a standing start in 2019, the only Final winner to have broken 2:00.0s was Whatta Good Reason in 2022, running 1:59.0s.

“We had been thinking about sending him down for the race for a while now. I think he will love the distance, and it gives him a chance to win a big race,” said James.

“He had been racing well here at Menangle (in Sydney) for a while, and his sectionals have been as good as any in the race. He just hasn’t been having much luck.

“He has had a few issues along the way. He had over 12 months off with a major injury, but he has come back sound, and there has been no reoccurrence,” the trainer explained.

James may drive the eight-year-old gelding in the Group 1 final on 2 March, but that decision will be made by the performances of Tasmanian-owned and bred pacer Magician, who joined James stable after finishing fourth in the $2.1m Eureka in September.

“Hopefully, Magician can qualify for the Miracle Mile qualifiers. He is not far off the mark, and it feels like he is stepping up. I think he will get better with a season of racing up here. So if he gets into the Sprints, then I will stay up here and drive him,” said James.

In the first heat of the George Johnson, Miss Papenhuyzen ($2.50 fav) put up a great battle late to defeat Stepping Stones ($3.20) by 2.5m in 1:59.3s.

They finished 31.5m clear of their rivals.

Further heats of the Tasmania Cup and George Johnson will be held on 25 February, where a strong interstate presence is expected, before the finals on Saturday night, 2 March.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Duncan Dornauf, for Tasracing