Group 1 winner heading bush to Broken Hill

Passionate Mildura harness racing owner Ross Weightman is hoping his country cup star of last season Major Meister (Art Major) can bounce back and regain some consistent form.

“He’s now with local trainer Andrew Vozlic and we’ll race him around here,” Weightman said.

“We’d love to have him back firing to compete in the Mildura Pacing Cup carnival – that’s what we’ve got in mind, but we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.

A planned pipe-opener for Major Meister is up the Silver City Highway at Broken Hill on Saturday night (Feb 3). The club has the distinction of racing on the smallest track in Australia (602 metres), and would be thrilled with the appearance of a pacer of Major Meister’s calibre.

Major Meister, a winner of 14 races and $284,000 in stakes, is owned by Weightman and long-time mate Jon Canestra, of Melbourne, who have raced horses together for the past 15 years. The Group One winner has drawn barrier four in race three at the non-TAB fixture at Broken Hill in a race worth $3000.

Major Meister was a dual New Zealand winner before being purchased in 2020 by a group of owners, including Weightman and Canestra.  He won nine races under the care of Victorian trainer Adam Kelly before being transferred to the stable of then-rising NSW star Jason Grimson in November 2022.

Major Meister posted an immediate all-the-way win at Ballarat, followed by an easy victory in the $100,000 Decron G1 Cranbourne Cup in mid-December.

Three weeks later he truly displayed his qualities with a super-impressive $75,000 Garrards Horse and Hound Bendigo Pacing Cup triumph—overcoming severe interference on the home corner in a phenomenal performance.

“We were at Cranbourne as well as Bendigo,” Weightman said.

“We were pretty rowdy, particularly at the Bendigo Cup, as anyone who was there would agree. It was an unbelievable run,” he said.

Major Meister has struggled to regain that stellar form, but Weightman is hopeful the pacer is on the right path after being transferred to the care of Vozlic.

“We had him in at Mildura this week, but the race didn’t stand up. Andrew was taking another one up to the ‘Hill so we thought he might as well go for a run,” Weightman said.

“The horse has been home for about 10 days and Andrew likes him a lot. As well as a trainer, he’s also a farrier so he might have some ideas that could help a bit.

“If the fast class races at Mildura don’t always stand up, slipping over the border to Globe Derby Park in SA is an option.

“Hopefully we’ll have a bit more fun yet.  Jon has always been into the gallops, but he’s had a bit of fun in harness racing now.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink