Gaths claim another trotters cup

A happy hunting ground for Kate and Andy Gath became doubly so as the pair claimed a fifth Cranbourne crown and, along the way, picked up a season-long harness racing premiership.

An eventful and entertaining Betavet Bruce Skeggs Memorial Cranbourne Trotters Cup had action throughout and that was all perfectly to script for Kate Gath and her steer Majestuoso (Majestic Son), who sat in wait and then took command late to win handsomely.

A fifth Cranbourne Trotters Cup for Andy Gath and Kate Gath as Majestuoso climbs over Hopeful Beauty to win an enthralling edition of the Betavet Bruce Skeggs Memorial title.
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And with that Majestuoso joined Elegant Image (2012), Tornado Valley (2018 and 2019) and Havehorsewilltravel (2021) as Cup champ for the Gaths, and while the latter could only muster ninth in his title defence he did claim his own riches.

Havehorsewilltravel picked up the $25,000 bonus for winning the Maori’s Idol Trotting Championship, amassing 25 points across the season to take the prize ahead of Travel Bug (20), with Cranbourne the last qualifying Cup of the season.

It was part of a successful night for the Gath stable, with Sanday and Chinese Whisper also scoring, while Majesutoso’s impressive win would have eased a little of the anguish of the talented trotter going so close when second in last Saturday’s SENTrack Inter Dominion final.

“It’s really special to win it tonight,” Kate Gath told TrotsVision, with the significantly beefed up $50,000 purse giving the race Group 1 status.

“We couldn’t quite get the Inter Dominion win, but it’s a pretty good consolation. It’s really good the job he did tonight.”

From the back row start Gath was able to be patient as those drawn to advantage shuffled in the order.

All Cashed Up initially led but galloped as did Rules Don’t Apply, cruelling their hopes, which enabled Sleepee and Chris Alford to slide to the front. Ryan Duffy sniffed an opportunity on Sundons Courage, who’d advanced through from gate 12, but Alford kicked up on the leader.

Sundons Courage instead took leader’s back, which became three back when Hopeful Beauty advanced past Sleepee.

A 70.2-second lead time, four seconds quicker than last year’s Cup, was music to the ears of Kate Gath, who waited in the one-one behind Nephew Of Sonoko’s before advancing to the breeze with a lap to go.

Off a 28.3-second third quarter Majestuoso drew level soon after the final bend and quickly had the race in hand, drawing two metres clear of Hopeful Beauty with Powderkeg absolutely storming the line to run into third.

“There was a bit of speed on early, which really helped. There was lots happening,” Kate Gath said. “We got to pop around at the time and his class just proved too strong. Hopeful Beauty’s been absolutely flying, so it was a really good effort to beat her in the straight.”

It was also a very satisfying result for the camp, coming off the back of Majestuoso racing 9220 metres in the preceding Inter Dominion.

“We were careful this week, but he still fastworked the two times (this week),” Kate Gath said. They can cop a lot of work horses, it’s just knowing what suits which one and managing them accordingly.

“He’s really well at the moment. (Andy) does all the hard planning and has his ideas around where to run them, but the way he’s feeling and the way he’s going, he’s really taken no harm through the series.

“He did come into the series fresh, so it’s not like he’s had a lot of hard racing and he’s at the end. We may be able to target some of those (big races over the summer).”

The rich Aurora Australis series lies ahead for trotters in Victoria, an eight-race series that begins with Bendigo’s Maori Mile on January 7 and runs through to the February 25 Australian Trotting Grand Prix, offering $705,000 in prizemoney plus bonuses.

For complete race results, click here.

by Michael Howard for The Trots