AUSTRALIA’S new trotting star Just Believe picked-up where he left off last year as far as the Trotting Masters goes.
The Jess Tubbs-trained gelding won the final leg of the Trotting Masters – the Inter Dominion final – at Melton back on December 10.
He showed his versatility by dropping back from a staying test in the Inter Dominion final to a 1720m scamper in last Friday night’s $300,000 Woodlands Stud Great Southern Star final at Melton.
It was the first leg of the revamped Trotting Masters.
The beauty and point of difference of the Great Southern Star is the need to race twice in the same night. Just Believe drew poorly and stormed home from the rear for a slashing second in his heat, then driver Greg Sugars made the most of a pole draw to win the final.
It was such a contrasting win to the Inter Dominion final where Just Believe came from an outside back row draw to sit parked and outstay his rivals. Last Friday, it was his speed at the start and then late along the sprint lane that took him to an easy win.
It capped a remarkable five months since Just Believe was transferred to Tubbs and Sugars after former trainer Mick Hughes retired.
Just Believe’s 14 starts for Tubbs have netted nine wins, four seconds and a third.
In that time, he has banked $473,150 for the big, loud and ecstatic Iona Trotter Syndicate, who race the seven-year-old.
“We loved him as soon as we got him,” Sugars said. “You just knew he was a good trotter and he’s just kept thriving on the racing.
“He’s been awesome and the owners are fantastic. There is obviously a great group of them and they are enjoying every minute.
“Not only is he obviously a very talented horse, he’s just such a character around the stables. I just love watching him and what he does.”
Just Believe is nominal favourite for the second leg of the APG Trotting Masters, the Australian Trotting Grand Prix at Melton.
Connections then have the option of taking him to Menangle, where he ran third in the 2021 Inter Dominion final, for the third leg of the series, The Hammerhead on March 4.
