Just Believe ready to set Shepparton alight

Harness racing fans are in for a Tuesday night treat with champion squaregaiter Just Believe (Orlando Vici) set to tackle the Shepparton Trotters Cup.

The globetrotting megastar will look to win the race he claimed in 2022 when he steps out as a short-priced favourite in the $30,000 Group 3 feature.

The reigning Victorian Horse of the Year was a brilliant winner first-up from a spell at Melton Entertainment Park on Saturday night and will back-up just three days later for husband-wife trainer-driver combo Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars.

“Looking at the programming and the lack of numbers of free-for-all trotters at the moment, we just thought there was some chance that if we only committed to Shepparton then some people might shy away from that and only go to Melton. Shepparton might have been a risk of not going ahead,” Sugars said after the weekend’s victory.

“We didn’t want to risk not having a run basically, so we nominated for both (races). If Saturday night stood up, we were happy to go around and all going well back-up for Tuesday.”

Just Believe is on a five-race winning streak which includes four big feature triumphs from his successful raid on New Zealand through April and May.

Another trip across the Tasman is planned for November, with connections plotting a tilt at the $NZ400,000 Group 1 Dominion Trot at Addington before returning home to chase an historic third-straight Inter Dominion crown.

Just Believe is the sole runner off the back row in tonight’s Shepparton Trotters Cup, which is set to go at 8pm.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Tim O’Connor, for HRV