Carlton sires brilliant debut winner
- admin877793
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Three-year-old Carlton gelding, Brooks Spirit, caught the eye and made a statement with a bold debut win at Oamaru on Sunday.
Starting as favourite in the Ben Scott Contracting/Valley Motors Kurow Maiden Trot, Brooks Spirit had not been seen in public since winning a trial at Rangiora by 12 lengths in early April.
Despite a lack of recent trials, the three-year-old sat parked over the 2600m distance and wore his rivals down as he cleared out to win by a length and a half under minimal urging by driver, Ben Hope.
Trained by Ben and Greg Hope, Brooks Spirit has been patiently handled throughout his juvenile career.
“We are really happy with his win, he’s been a really nice horse since day dot,” said Ben Hope.
“Ever since we broke him in we’ve really liked him. He’s always been a good-looking horse and always really strong.”
The decision to take their time with the horse has paid off, despite showing great potential as a two-year-old when qualifying, and then also winning a two-year-old trial by 13 lengths.
“We thought he could make a two-year-old and to be fair he could’ve. He trialed really well at two, but we’ve looked after him and given him more time as we are thinking of the future with him.”
“We think he’s a Derby horse to be honest. He’s got a really good way of going and just gets over the ground really well. He’s really clean gaited.”
“We are really excited about the future with him, I’m not saying he’ll be winning the Derby but he’s certainly good enough to be racing in it.”
“He should improve even more off the win, as he hadn’t had a trial for quite a while.”
Carlton filly, Just For Today, is also trained by Greg and Ben Hope and has resumed work after her impressive win at Addington in June.
The Hopes have her ready for her next assignment, seeking a one-win trotting race to start in.
“I gave her a slight freshen up after her win and she’s actually improved even more off of that. Her aim will be the Oaks at the end of the year,” Ben said.
“It would be really nice for Carlton to have one possibly in the Derby and one in the Oaks from a small crop. That would be really cool.”
There are just nine registered three-year-olds by Carlton in New Zealand – five of which have raced or qualified to date.
To date this season Carlton has had four starters for three individual winners – Luca, Just For Today and now Brooks Spirit.
Brooks Spirit and Just For Today will potentially aim at the one-win trot at the Rangiora meeting this coming Sunday.
Brooks Spirit is out of Love You mare, Crazy N Love, while Just For Today is out of Just One More, a mare by Majestic Son.
Carlton presents brilliant value for trotting breeders in New Zealand, standing at just $1,000 plus GST – working fee is included for mares served at Wai Eyre Farm.
Comments