Callmethebreeze
AUSTRALIA'S champion trotter Just Believe can't escape the Europeans, even in his own backyard.
Just Believe gained huge global respect through a three-race Swedish campaign in May/June, which included a second and a third against some of the world's best trotters.
The eight-year-old is unbeaten in five starts since returning home, including his second successive clean sweep of an Inter Dominion series in Brisbane last month.
At his first run since winning that final on December 16, Just Believe steps out in the $50,000 Group 2 Knight Pistol at Ballarat on Saturday night.
Standing in his way is a seriously talented and impressively credentialled European import, Callmethebreeze.
The six-year-old French-bred entire was bought by Pat Driscoll's Haras des Trotteurs a few months back and has turned heads with a couple of impressive trials in preparation for his Down Under debut on Saturday night.
There are no soft launches for Callmethebreeze when he takes on not only Just Believe but the strongest Aussie trotting line-up for at least a year.
Callmethebreeze won 12 races in Europe, including the Group 1 Gran Premio Orsi Mangelli in Italy as a three-year-old back in 2021.
The following year he won serious races in Rome and Stockholm's famous Solvalla track, where the Elitlopp is run.
Just Believe started his Swedish raid in a heat of the Elitlopp late last May, but was checked and galloped, losing all chance while looming like a possible top-four finisher rounding the home bend.
Callmethebreeze's trainer Anton Golino, who learnt much of his craft in Europe, conceded his stable newcomer would need "a lot of luck" to test Just Believe at Ballarat.
"It's a race we will learn a lot from, but it's a tough race to kick him off in," he said.
"We've never had a horse like this, a tried horse from over there. His record is good, but it's not easy to come across here and do it all again."
"I wasn't sure about him a month ago, but he's turned the corner the past three weeks or so after we changed a few things and the Melton trial was good."
"He's a very relaxed horse at home, so it's hard to get a gauge on him."
"Put it this way, we're as interested as anyone to see how he lines up in a strong race like this."
Golino confirmed his main stable driver Nathan Jack will drive Callmethebreeze ahead of high-class stablemate Im Ready Jet at Ballarat.
"Nathan wants to drive him. He liked his (Melton) trial, so that's a good sign," he said.
In other stable news, Golino said top young trotter Cravache D'Or was still a few months away from racing again.
"He got really sick, and it was touch and go for quite a while," he said.
"He slowly got better, and I gave him a preparation, but he just wasn't quite himself, so we turned him out again. He'll have another month, and we'll start again. He looks good now."
