Road to final promising

By John Dunne (HRV)

ID23 – Round 3 Heats

CHAMPION trotter Just Believe capped off a fine ID23 series of heats for Larajay Farm (Myrniong), when he smashed the track record in a stunning win in the final heat of the series.

Just Believe was kept company in the lead by Gus as the pair slid through the first quarter of the last mile in 28.9 while Ollivici was lobbing along in the running line before latching onto the back of Just Believe with 400 metres to travel.

Just Believe ($1.12 fav) dropped Ollivici off half way down the straight opening up a winning margin of eight metres in a mile rate of 1:57.5 for the 2680 metre journey.

The Yabby Dam Farms bred trotter eclipsed the previous record by more than three seconds.

“He’s a very special animal and it’s just a privilege to have him in our stable,” Greg Sugars said.

“He did it incredibly comfortable, that’s one thing about him is sometimes when he’s in front he can switch off a bit but having Gus up outside kept us honest, it really kept his mind on the job,” he said.

Sugars said he had plenty in reserve around the home turn.

“I still had that much horse left turning into the straight that he really felt like he was in second gear,” he said.

“I’m a bit lost for words on how to describe him-he’s just an amazing horse.”

Just Believe is now unbeaten in six heats and a Final from his past two Inter Dominion campaigns and it will take an extraordinary performance from one his rivals to prevent him from making a clean sweep of ID22 and ID23.

Earlier in the night Just Believe’s stable mate Better Eclipse served notice he is primed to play a key role in next week’s Inter Dominion Pacing Championship Grand Final with a soft win in Heat Nine.

Sugars allowed Better Eclipse plenty of time to settle mid field in the running line knowing the $1.22 favorite Swayzee was locked away on his inside.

When Sugars pulled put with 600 metres to travel, Better Eclipse rounded up his rivals to join the leader Classie Washington on straightening.

With Sugars sitting quietly, Better Eclipse found the line with something in reserve scoring by a neck from Classie Washington with Swayzee savaging the line late in fourth place.

“We got a good trip and then he finished strongly and its pleasing to see he’s up to the challenge,” Sugars said.

Sugars said this week’s barrier draw won’t be an issue with Better Eclipse’s versatile style of racing.

“Barrier draws aren’t really crucial for this one, sometimes he’s better off drawn badly depending on how the race is run,” he said.

“We know we’re in with a live chance and I think the series is far more open than what a lot of people thought.”