Cups and champs at Cranbourne

By Michael Howard (HRV)

A happy hunting ground for Kate and Andy Gath became doubly so as the pair claimed a fifth Cranbourne crown and, along the way, picked up a season-long premiership.

An eventful and entertaining Betavet Bruce Skeggs Memorial Cranbourne Trotters Cup had action throughout and that was all perfectly to script for Kate Gath and her steer Majestuoso, who sat in wait and then took command late to win handsomely.

And with that Majestuoso joined Elegant Image (2012), Tornado Valley (2018 and 2019) and Havehorsewilltravel (2021) as Cup champ for the Gaths, and while the latter could only muster ninth in his title defence he did claim his own riches.

Havehorsewilltravel picked up the $25,000 bonus for winning the Maori’s Idol Trotting Championship, amassing 25 points across the season to take the prize ahead of Travel Bug (20), with Cranbourne the last qualifying Cup of the season.

It was part of a successful night for the Gath stable, with Sanday and Chinese Whisper also scoring, while Majesutoso’s impressive win would have eased a little of the anguish of the talented trotter going so close when second in last Saturday’s SENTrack Inter Dominion final.

“It’s really special to win it tonight,” Kate Gath told TrotsVision, with the significantly beefed up $50,000 purse giving the race Group 1 status.

“We couldn’t quite get the Inter Dominion win, but it’s a pretty good consolation. It’s really good the job he did tonight.”

“There was a bit of speed on early, which really helped. There was lots happening,” Kate Gath said. “We got to pop around at the time and his class just proved too strong. Hopeful Beauty’s been absolutely flying, so it was a really good effort to beat her in the straight.”

The rich Aurora Australis series lies ahead for trotters in Victoria, an eight-race series that begins with Bendigo’s Maori Mile on January 7 and runs through to the February 25 Australian Trotting Grand Prix, offering $705,000 in prizemoney plus bonuses.