Mission accomplished: Butt gets his boom trotter

One of France's top four juvenile harness racing square-gaiters is on his way to Australasia.

Menangle trainer Tim Butt's quest to secure the Southern Hemisphere's next trotting superstar has emerged in the form of four-year-old entire Gatsby Perinne.

The winner of more than 200 thousand Euro ($321,000) the striking entire Gatsby Perinne was last season in the top four three-year olds in France.

He was secured by Butt during a Le Trot sponsored tour coinciding with the French yearling and all-age sales and 100th running of the Prix D'Amerique at Haras de Troteurs last week.

Gatsby Perinne has three wins and eight placings in his 21-start carer, but virtually all of his racing has been at Group level. He was previously trained by the powerful Philippe Allaire stable.

"He's broken two minutes over 2900 metres at three years old and he's finished first four 15 times in 19 starts against the very best in France," Butt said.

"He's won his races over 2150 metres and 2775 metres and he's just turned four, so that's perfect for what we were looking for," he said.

Gatsby Perinne

In addition to having stamped himself as a first-class race horse, Gatsby Perinne is bred in the purple. By Bird Parker (Ready Cash– Belisha (Fakir du Vivier) ($2.5 mill) the son of dominant French sire Ready Cash (Indy de Vive-Kidea) ($3.3 million), Gatsby Perinne is out of Unabella Perinne (Diamant Gede-Minnie Perinne Viking Sun $400 K).

"His breeding is probably good enough for him to have had a stud career in France. Bird Parker is regarded as the new up-and-coming stallion in France and I went looking for modern breeding," Butt said.

"Our goal in France was to identify the best modern bred trotting stallion we could afford, to race him down here in the good races, and to set him up for a stud career," he said.

"Gatsby Perinne is exactly the type of horse we were looking for and would have been worthy of a stud career in France – so the people who are on board with us are making a long-term investment and, we're hoping, a profitable one."

Gatsby Perinne

Limited shares were still available in Gatsby Perinne, who will now go into quarantine ahead of arriving at the Butt stable.

"I'm still not sure what he will be assessed here but he is aiming at top level, including the Inter Dominion at Menangle in December and the Great Southern Star," he said.

"His sire Bird Parker just got better with age, so I'm expecting this guy to do the same."

Terry Gange

NewsAlert PR Mildura