From the TAB Metropolitan Region Championship to the Grand Circuit are long strides but after his effortless win on Saturday night at Menangle this is clearly the destiny for Wolf Stride.
Owned and bred by Emilio and Mary Rosati Wolf Stride continued what must be the leading owners most successful season.
The Rosati’s have had multiple Group On victories with in particular Line Up in the NSW and Victorian Pacers Derbies and Elite Stride in the NSW Trotters Derby. The two NSW Derbies an unequalled accomplishment.
The heavily-backed four-year-old strung together three consecutive sub-28 second sectionals to career away by nine metres in the S100,000 event, his sixth win on end, in a mile rate of 1:53.6.
Multiple Grand Circuit trainer Anthony Butt who is on now on the cusp of a half century of Grand Circuit victories partnered Wolf Stride in the TAB sponsored event certainly believes that the horse will make that progression.
For Anthony Butt who conditions his team at the Menangle Park Training Centre the win was another plus for his rapidly-accelerating training career.
The former erratic son of Rock N Roll Heaven was originally specifically set for the then $1million event but the COVID-19 pandemic intervened when HRNSW was forced to convert that series was divided into four $100,000 regional heats and finals.
Yet for Butt the thrill was almost the same as winning the rich final as it was the culmination of a carefully orchestrated plan.
“We always knew this horse had ability but we had to be patient with him,” said Butt.
“When he started to come up so well I looked at the conditions for the new regional series and realised if he came back to racing too soon he would probably win a couple of races and become ineligible so we spelled him.
“So even though the series changed a wee bit to actually win it after it was such a long-term plan was a real thrill.”
So dramatic has been Wolf Stride’s improvement that Butt is adamant he can tackle the Grand Circuit next season.
“He feels like a Grand Circuit horse, especially these days,” Butt said.
“I took him to Emilio and Mary’s farm for a spell and he will have a good month off and then we will look at those big races next season.
“He might start out with some of the better country cups and then we can dip our toe into the Grand Circuit but I am sure he has got the motor for it.”
“We have 40 horses in work here at Menangle and 39 of them are owned by Emilio and Mary. Their support has been phenomenal,” says Butt.
“They have been huge for the harness racing industry in Australia and New Zealand for a long time but they have got some really good horses around them at the moment and they deserve success.”
Butt has driven 49.5 Grand Circuit winners, made up of 16 pacing wins and 33.5 trotting winners. He has captured the ultimate Australasian trilogy of the Miracle Mile, Hunter Cup and the Inter Dominion.
