28 April 2022 | Courtesy of News Corp
Justice, 63, has trained an extensive list of outstanding horses, headed by wonderful pacers Shakamaker, Safe And Sound, Lennytheshark and Tip Top Prince, along with the former outstanding trotter, Lenin.
So, it shocked many a couple of weeks back when Justice declared his new stable star, Mufasa Metro, the best trotter he has trained and better than Lenin.
That may prove to be correct, but with the benefit of hindsight, Justice admits it was a premature call.
“Yeah, I think I got caught up in the moment when I said he was better than Lenin,” he said. “He’s very exciting and I hope he is, but Lenin won a lot of races (41 wins), many of them features, and ran second in an (1993) Inter Dominion final behind Night Allowance (in Auckland). He was as close as you can get to a champion without being one.”
With normality restored, the simple fact Justice even mentioned former Kiwi four-year-old Mufasa Metro in the same conversation as Lenin speaks volumes for the potential he is showing.
Mufasa Metro didn’t just win last start, he thrashed a handy field by 25.5m and posted a sparkling 1min57.8sec mile rate for 2240m.
It was the sort of win Justice and owner Mark Gurry had been waiting for.
“I thought he was a certainty first-up, I would’ve put my house on him, but he got beaten. I think it was a case of star-gazing, so I put the pull down blinds on him and he came out and did what he did last start,” Justice said.
“It was exciting to see him win like that. I’m sure he’s a lot better horse this campaign than last. He won The Holmfield for us not long after he came across from NZ, but it was all a bit of a rush and his form went off.”
The stunning style of the latest win prompted Justice to throw Mufasa Metro into the big league in Saturday night’s Group 3 Vulcan Trotters’ free-for-all (1720m) at Melton.
“It’s certainly a pretty serious test against a strong open-class field, but I knew he’d draw well under the conditions of the race and taking them on over a short trip makes more sense at this stage,” Justice said.
“If he trots away well and leads, we’ll stay in front and be mighty hard to catch if he runs up to what we know he can.
“It’s also a good test because it’s a such a similar race to the Great Southern Star, which is our long-range aim with him. We’ll also look at the Inter Dominion because it’s in Victoria later this year.”
Justice is happy working a team of 13 these days compared to the huge stables he ran in SA and Victoria at his prime. He admits he would’ve scaled back even further except for the interest his 19-year-old daughter Ewa (pronounced Eva) is showing.
“She drives Mufasa Metro in most of his work and she’s keen on the driving, so I’m working more than I planned to at this stage of life to try and give her some opportunities,” he said.
· Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp.
Photographer: Stuart McCormick
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