Gus connections plotting another New Zealand raid

The connections of trotting star Gus are already eyeing-off another New Zealand raid.

The trotting hero of NZ Cup Week is being set for the $600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge on April 10.

Co-trainer Pete McMullen said the six-year-old, who brilliantly won the Dominion Trot and NZ Trotting free-for-all at Addington, would bypass Victorian riches early next year with a view to Cambridge.

“He’s out having a break now,” he said. “We looked at Melbourne, mainly the Great Southern Star, but we don’t think it’s the right sort of race for him.

“We’ve spent a lot of time trying to settle him down and we think he’d get fired up in a race like that.”

The Great Southern Star at Melton on February 14 is a 1720m sprint series with heats and a final on the same night.

“He can have a bit of extra time out now and we could aim at the sprint race on Miracle Mile night (Group 1 Hammerhead Mile) and that leads well into the Cambridge race,” McMullen said.

The $100,000 Hammerhead Mile is at Menangle on March 14.

“We think the Cambridge race would suit him and he handled the trip so well to NZ recently. It’s easier getting to and from Auckland,” McMullen said.

The other major target for Gus is the hometown $500,000 Brisbane Inter Dominion final in July.

Next year will be Gus’ fourth attempt at the Inter Dominion.

It was at four he first hinted at his talent with a third in a heat and 10th in the 2023 Brisbane final won by Just Believe.

He then broke in an opening round heat of the 2024 Sydney series and was then scratched from the remainder of the series.

In July this year, Gus ran second and third in his two heats before a fantastic fourth to Arcee Phoenix in the final.

He has only raced five times since for four wins, including the two NZ Cup Week majors.

McMullen said if the stable’s best pacer The Janitor continued his emergence, he could accompany Gus to Cambridge.

“We think a lot of him,” he said. “It would be ideal if he could get a slot in the Cambridge pacing racing (Race by betcha) and we could take them both across.”

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing New Zealand