Although he went into yesterday’s assignment with a couple of doubts, talented trainer Graham McDermott had no reason to worry.
McDermott’s concerns heading into the Maryborough Trotters’ Cup were two-fold – firstly, it was the strongest field Majestic Ess Jay had met, and secondly, his previous attempt over 2690 metres didn’t go so well.
“I didn’t go into it thinking he could win,” McDermott admitted. “It was the toughest field he’d faced and I wasn’t convinced he could see out the distance.
“The only other time he’d run over the trip was in the Derby, and although he was only a three-year-old, he couldn’t see it out. He has strengthened up since then, but he hadn’t raced beyond 2200 metres.”
Not only did Majestic Ess Jay handle the conditions like a seasoned trooper, he scored with ease from Action Kosmos and Sun Of Anarchy.
With Chris Svanosio in the cart, the son of Majestic Son enjoyed the perfect one-one trail from the front line on his way to rating 2:03.6, with the last half covered in 58.7 seconds.
“He got a great run and was able to make the most of it,” McDermott said. “I’m rapt with the way he has come back and he should keep improving. He’s only had 30 starts and is 12 months away from his best, but he is coming along really well.”
Set to enjoy a few easy days, the five-year-old has been aimed at a TM1-TM2 at Melton in a fortnight, with McDermott also considering a start in the Bill Collins Sprint a week later.
“He has won his three starts, which were in three weeks, from a spell, so he will have a light week now,” McDermott said. “There is a race for him at Melton in a couple of week, then the Bill Collins Sprint
“The Bill Collins is probably out of his class at this stage, but he deserves to have a look. Other than that, the country cups are the obvious targets.
> Paul Courts is Editor in Chief of harnessnews.com.au
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