Majestic Cruiser will be spot on for the Cup

Young gun harness racing trainer Jason Grimson is adamant the best version of Majestic Cruiser (Art Major) will step-out on New Zealand Cup Day.

Majestic Cruiser galloped out at the start and didn’t look himself when only seventh in last night’s Group 1 Len Smith at Menangle, won by stablemate I Cast No Shadow.

Despite that, he was flown from Sydney to Auckland where he will then join a flight with Copy That and others down to Christchurch on Tuesday.

“Don’t worry about it,” Grimson warned. “I’ll have him spot on for the Cup. I’m heading across Wednesday to meet him in Christchurch and I’ll have a week one-on-one with him to sort him out.

“You’ll see the best of him in the Cup. I think he’s a great chance.”

So, what happened last night?

“Cam (Hart, driver) said he got a bit too keen behind the gate and that’s why he broke,” Grimson said.’

“He didn’t go as well as we hoped after that, but he pulled-up a bit off.

“I’ve had a bug go through the stable and different horses have been hit by it at different times.

“Take I Cast No Shadow for example. He was disappointing last time, but Cam (Hart) said he didn’t feel right that night. He had a bit of a cold, a snotty nose.

“He turned it around last night and went great in quick time.

“Majestic Cruiser pulled-up a bit like that. So, I know you can turn them around quickly.

“I wouldn’t have sent him if I didn’t think so. There wasn’t a moment last night, after the race, when I thought about scrapping the trip.”

I Cast Now Shadow, a $17 outsider, gave Grimson his fourth upset win in a major Group 1 race over the past 11 months in last night’s $100,000 Len Smith Mile. He also won the Inter Dominion pacing final (Boncel Benjamin) and Messenger and Blacks A Fake with Majestic Cruiser.

“I knew he’d come back well and I was quite confident going into it. Jack (Trainor, driver) and I thought he could land the one-one (trail) and it would be solidly run. That’s just how it panned out,” Grimson said.

“He’s underrated this horse. He’s fast and strong.”

I Cast No Shadow delivered yet another Group 1 win for Trainor in his new home town.

Now Trainor will also play caretaker trainer with I Cast No Shadow as he prepares for the Inter Dominion while Grimson is in NZ with Majestic Cruiser.

“I don’t think we’ll run him again before the Inter Dominion starts (November 26),” Grimson said. “Jack will look after him and we’ll assess it along the way, but I’m leaning towards building him back up again for the start of the series.

“It might be that we just give him a trial before he heads down to Victoria.”

Majestic Cruiser is set to accompany I Cast No Shadow in the Inter Dominion after his NZ Cup raid.

by Adam Hamilton