Gus NZ winning the NZ Trotting FFA
QUEENSLAND trotting star Gus is having a break and will not chase the new bonus series in Victoria early next year.
Trainers Chantal and Pete McMullen have opted to look longer term with the brilliant six-year-old who took Addington by storm earlier this month with his huge Group 1 double in the Dominion Trot and NZ Trotting free-for-all.
It was the sorts of performances Gus had been hinting at for quite a while and underlined the patient and outstanding training performance by Team McMullen.
Most expected Gus to head south and chase the new $500,000 bonus on offer across six trotting races in Victoria from January 10 to February 14.
But Pete McMullen said he and Chantal didn't think the biggest of those races, the $250,000 Group 1 Great Southern Star, would suit Gus, who has been such a work in progress for them.
“He’s out having a break now,” he said. “We looked at Melbourne, mainly the Great Southern Star, but we don’t think it’s the right sort of race for him.
“We’ve spent a lot of time trying to settle him down and we think he’d get fired up in a race like that.”
The Great Southern Star at Melton on February 14 is a 1720m sprint series with heats and a final on the same night.
“He can have a bit of extra time out now and we could aim at the race on Miracle Mile night (Group 1 Hammerhead Mile) and that leads well into the Cambridge race,” McMullen said.
The $100,000 Hammerhead Mile is at Menangle on March 14 with the $NZ600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge on April 10.
Australians have won both TAB Trots run so far with Just Believe in 2024 and Arcee Phoenix earlier this year.
“We think the Cambridge race would suit him and he handled the trip so well to NZ recently. It’s easier getting to and from Auckland,” McMullen said.
The other major target for Gus is the hometown $500,000 Brisbane Inter Dominion final in July.
Next year will be Gus’ fourth attempt at the Inter Dominion.
It was at four he first hinted at his talent with a third in a heat and 10th in the 2023 Brisbane final won by Just Believe.
He then broke in an opening round heat of the 2024 Sydney series and was then scratched from the remainder of the series.
In July this year, Gus ran second and third in his two heats before a fantastic fourth to Arcee Phoenix in the final.
He has only raced five times since for four wins, including the two NZ Cup Week majors.
PHOTO: HRNZ/Race Images NZ
