An old Kiwi marvel continues his white-hot form

The rejuvenation of A Gs White Socks (Rock N Roll Heaven) continued to unfold at Victorian harness racing headquarters on Saturday night (Apr. 29) as the well-travelled nine-year-old added yet another victory to a fruitful month or two at the races.

The former New Zealand-based pacer streeted his rivals in the TAB Golden Reign Free For All, with an early move from the back line paying dividends as Greg Sugars completed a bloodless coup in his battle for the front.

And from there it was basically game over for his rivals as A Gs White Socks slipped away approaching the turn and cruised down to the line to win by more than 5m over Max Delight, who hit the line nicely second-up from a spell.

A Gs White Socks continues his rich run of form for Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars with a dominant victory in the night’s fast class event from Melton, the TAB Golden Reign Free For All. He’s now won four of his last five! pic.twitter.com/OODCViWVA7

— The Trots (@TheTrotsComAu) April 29, 2023

A Gs White Socks had won just one race since his famous 2020 Ballarat Pacing Cup triumph before joining Myrniong trainer Jess Tubbs, but has now landed four from his last five starts.

“We are really proud of the job we’ve been able to do with this horse since joining our stable and he’s got a special place in our heart,” Sugars said.

“He’s a bit of a character and there’s a great group of people (who own him), and it’s such a pleasure to have him back racing probably somewhere near career-best form.”

Sugars said A Gs White Socks was a confidence horse, with a big emphasis required on keeping him happy.

“After doing a little bit of tinkering with things, we’ve sort of got a routine that seems to be agreeing with him now. And as you can see, we are getting great results on the track,” he said.

A Gs White Socks, who only joined the Tubbs stable from Belinda McCarthy’s barn late last year, has now won 17 of 96 career starts for prizemoney earnings of more than $680,000.

Earlier in the night, Damian Wilson produced a brilliant training performance to win the $35,000 APG Gold Bullion 2YO Consolation with Byrneside Boom (Sportswriter).

He galloped at his only previous start – a heat of the series at Melton on April 17 – but did everything right the second time around to score at double-figure odds.

Wilson took the reins of the brown colt and settled last from barrier seven before coming with a sustained three-wide run down the back straight. He hit the front at the final turn and gripped on to defeat Kwick Sand by just over a metre with Carramar Olam third.

The Byrneside-based Wilson said he made some gear changes for Saturday night’s feature.

“He’s been very hard work,” Wilson said.

“I just lifted his head up a little bit and just deafened him up a little bit as well, and I kept him real calm in the warm-up today which probably helped him because he was pretty fired up last week.

“He was just on the job tonight.”

Anthony Butt landed a driving double at Melton with Joe Pace-trained Justalittlesip and Sonya Smith-prepared Hammers Law, while Chris Svanosio trained and drove Aroha Koe and Heavenly Charm to victory.

For complete race fields, click here.

by Tim O’Connor, for HRV