By Matt Smith
Waimate couple Lex and Heather Williams could get the best type of publicity this weekend for their draft at the yearling sales next month.
There is just one problem with chasing Australasian Trotting Championship glory with One Over Da Moon at Melton on Saturday night – a certain trotter named Monbet.
One Over Da Moon, bred by the Williams out of their millionaire trotting mare, One Over Kenny, was a heat winner at Ballarat last week, but the performance of Monbet 90 minutes earlier showed Australians what New Zealanders already knew – he is one heck of a horse.
The Greg and Nina Hope-trained star beat his rivals by the length of a cricket pitch and had a heap in reserve for driver Ricky May to call on.
Lex Williams is not ready to accept defeat just yet though, pointing out the last 400m sectionals were in One Over Da Moon’s favour, albeit with a wry tone to his voice.
‘‘He’s going to be pretty tough to beat, no doubt about that,” Williams said about Monbet.
‘‘But when I looked at the times, we came home the last quarter faster than he did by half a second. That gave me a wee smile. But overall [Monbet] was a lot faster.”
The handicaps give One Over Da Moon one advantage over Monbet in the $A50,575 ($NZ 54,754) feature on Saturday night.
One Over Da Moon starts outside the main draw (or the unruly, as it is known in New Zealand), while Monbet is the solitary runner off 20m.
So a good start might give One Over Da Moon the chance to move before Monbet, forcing Monbet to work harder in the race.
Williams said trainer-driver Chris Alford was impressed by what was left under the hood at the end of the heat.
‘‘[Alford] said he was probably a wee bit conservative in the run because he wasn’t sure on his fitness levels. But he said at the finish, he had that much left in him it was incredible.”
The Williams are also busy preparing four yearlings for the New Zealand premier yearling sales next month, with a colt by Rocknroll Hanover sure to attract attention.
The Western Ideal stallion has left handy pacers such as Mister Presley (nine wins) and Rocker Band (seven wins) from a relatively light numbers of mares over eight breeding seasons, but the dam, Fleet’s Pocket, is where the yearling colt packs a punch.
The daughter of In The Pocket has been a fine producer of winners, including last year’s Hannon Memorial winner, Mighty Flying Mac.
‘‘On pedigree and breeding, two are probably a wee bit ahead of the other two,” Williams said.
‘‘The one out of Fleet’s Pocket by Rocknroll Hanover, he’s an awesome young fella. He’s looking terrific really – he’s not overly big, but he’s a good size, and he looks like he’s a ‘go early’ type.”
The other yearling to catch the eye on paper is One Muscle Hill, a colt by Muscle Hill out of Landora’s Pearl.
‘‘He’s a striking-looking colt and he’s very strong,” he said.
Gunner’s Coin is the sole winner in New Zealand for Muscle Hill, but his results in North America suggest big things are just around the corner for the stallion.
‘‘I’m sure he’s going to hit the road running in the next year or so.
‘‘It was just what he was doing in America and the pedigree that made us go with him.”
A Majestic Son-Anna Castleton filly is also ‘‘strong-looking”, while an American Ideal colt out of Flying Mrs Williams is a ‘‘bit bigger” than the Fleet’s Pocket colt and might take a ‘‘wee bit longer”, Williams said.