Mistress breaks hearts and records in Kaikoura feature

There were few hairy moments but class prevailed when Captains Mistress (Captaintreacherous) easily won as expected today’s $60,000 Group Two Bulldog Hanover Kaikoura Cup.

Trained by Jason Grimson and driven by Cam Hart the $1.20 harness racing favourite scramble away in her first race day standing start but it didn’t matter.

“That was my fault. I thought they’d called a false start so I grabbed her. She actually paced away. It was a funny old start but anyway she’s a freak and it didn’t matter,” Hart said.

She tailed the rest of the field for some distance before she tagged onto the bunch with just over a lap to run before sprinting around the field, been pushed three wide by Republican Party before getting to the lead.

“I wasn’t too worried because I know how quick she is and she sort of showed that with a lap to go coming down the straight. I was able to burn up and get around them. At the 600 she was just cruising and I was going to put a margin on them whenever I asked her.”

Coming up the straight Captains Mistress still had a few gears left.

“Because she missed away and I was trying to look after her up the straight. She would have won by thirty or forty if I’d really got into her.”

It was the first time trainer, driver and horse had visited the seaside South Bay track.

“It’s great to me here. It’s such a unique place. It’s something we’ve watched on TV for quite a while so it’s awesome to be here.”

So in amongst all the big races Hart has won across both New Zealand and Australia how did he rate today’s win.

“It’s certainly right up there. It would nice if the prize money was a little more. It’s just the experience. You can’t put a price on the experience that Jas and I have had today. It’s been pretty awesome. To bring a horse like this and the calibre she is here, it’s real exciting.”

At the line Republican Party was three and a quarter lengths back in second with Mo’unga a length and a half back in third.

The winning time of 2-54.1 not only broke Lazarus’s race and track record of 2-54.3 it also created a new New Zealand record bettering Eamon Maguire’s 2018 record of 2-54.2 set on the fast Ashburton circuit.

The last 800 was run in 56.8 and 400 in 28.6 with Captains Mistress hardly out of second gear with the ear plug in.

Races on the agenda now in New Zealand for Captains Mistress could include the $150,000 Airpark Canterbury NZ Pacing FFA on Show Day and the $100,000 Group One Christian Cullen seven days later.

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink