Grimson and Hart stamp their names in $355,000 Group 1

To them they are just two boys from the Riverina, but Jason Grimson and Cameron Hart are taking harness racing by storm.

They both made the decision a handful of years ago to move from regional New South Wales and base themselves on the outskirts of Sydney at Menangle – a change that has been unimaginable to them in their respective careers.

Grimson has been a giant killer in the training ranks from winning the 2021 Inter Dominion on protest with Boncel Benjamin and then heading over to New Zealand and beating the Kiwis in the Messenger with Majestic Cruiser (Art Major) last April.

Meanwhile, Hart has gone from racing around provincial tracks and is now the number one driver in New South Wales and one of the top drivers in Australia.

And given their ages – Grimson 29 and Hart 23 – the world is their oyster.

So much so, the pair added the Grand Circuit Blacks A Fake Championship to their records at Albion Park on Saturday (Jul. 23) with their beloved pacer Majestic Cruiser.

They were confident they could win the $355,000 2680m staying test but punters had Majestic Cruiser at starting odds of $17.

“He’s been a great horse for Jason and I,” said Hart.

“We’ve been setting this horse throughout the Carnival for this race.

“We were confident the whole way though . . . those close to us knew but others probably didn’t.”

Prior to tonight, Majestic Cruiser had four starts at Albion Park during the Winter Carnival with a third to Triple Eight in the Mr Feelgood Group 3 his best result.

“At the start of the Carnival we drove him a bit upside down to get him fit because he’s such a fat horse,” said Grimson.

Primed to perfection for The Blacks A Fake Championship, Hart was able to position Majestic Cruiser in the running line as fellow Sydney pacer Spirit Of St Louis did the work in front.

The first three quarters were 28.6, 29.9 and 27.8 seconds, and Majestic Cruiser relished it and from leader to winner the final quarter was 27.8.

This returned a mile rate of 1:54.7 – the second-fastest edition of the race with the feature record set in 2019 when Colt Thirty One won in 1:53.7.

MAJESTIC CRUISER REPLAY

“I can’t believe it to be honest,” said Hart.

“I knew this horse has been racing really well.

“Jas and I have been building up towards this race and we knew we just needed some luck and we got it tonight.

“He just relishes the distance and that’s why I was so confident tonight as he’s one of the best stayers in the country.

“It was such a good effort, I couldn’t be happier.

“Jas has been great to me in my career and he’s also a Riverina boy.

“When I moved to Sydney I was happy to pick up some metro wins and never expected it to turn out like this.”

This win gave Hart his fourth Group 1 and 692 wins in his career.

It gave Grimson his third Group 1 and 245 wins as a trainer.

For complete race results, click here.

by Amanda Rando, for Harnesslink