Out with the old and in with the new.
That’s the best summation of the 2015/16 Australian Pacing Gold Trotting Masters series with boom four-year-olds Speeding Spur and Monbet clearly stamping themselves as the future of the sport.
Following injury setbacks to seasoned stars Stent and Master Lavros during the season, the new fresh faced young bucks stood tall and dominated their rivals in the major races.
Both trotters are based in New Zealand and they collected three of the five races available during the term.
The five leg Australian Pacing Gold Trotting Masters starts in November at Christchurch with the Dominion before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix and the Great Southern Star while the series concludes in Auckland with the ANZAC Cup and the Rowe Cup.
Prepared by father/son combination of John and Josh Dickie at Clevedon in the north island of New Zealand, Speeding Spur scored a victory in the Gr.1 $300,000 Pryde’s Easifeeds Great Southern Star while being the runner-up in both in the Grand Prix and the ANZAC Cup.
Speeding Spur had his season prematurely ended following an injury he sustained during the ANZAC Cup.
The Pegasus Spur entire won 6 of his 11 starts this season while being placed in the other 5 events contested and amassed more than $395,000 in stakes.
Monbet, prepared in Christchurch by Greg and Nina Hope scored victories in the Gr.1 $91,750 ANZAC Cup and the Gr.1 $145,000 Canam Rowe Cup.
He also contested the Grand Prix but finished at the rear of the field after making a break.
The Love You gelding has won 12 of his 14 starts to date this season while amassing more than $385,000 in stakes.
Speeding Spur amassed 220 points during the series and finished 17 clear of Monbet with 203 points.
The full list of Australian Pacing Gold Trotting Masters winners were Master Lavros (Dominion), Keystone Del (Grand Prix), Speeding Spur (Great Southern Star) and Monbet (ANZAC Cup & Rowe Cup).
The top five point scorers were;
Speeding Spur (220 points)
Monbet (203)
Keystone Del (110)
Master Lavros (100)
sheemon NZ (80)
Congratulations to the winning owners of Speeding Spur – Woodlands Partnership Syndicate plus rugby stars Kieran Read, Andy Ellis, Dave Hewett and Commonwealth Gold Medallist Dick Tayler.
And a massive congratulations to both John and Josh Dickie.
