Kiwi spurs bold ambitions
Record win by NZ trotter justifies US campaign as owners look to boost stallion career
It took only three starts for Speeding Spur to justify one of the toughest decisions of Andrew Grierson’s life. And his stunning track record win at Tioga Downs in the United States yesterday (NZ time) could well earn him an invite into one of the world’s richest trots.
The veteran Kiwi trotted a 1:52.8 mile to set a new track record for an aged trotter, with the stake for the $US148,000 ($229,000) open trot meaning Speeding Spur’s US career is as good as paid for.
But for managing owner Grierson, the win meant so much more than that.
As well as being one of New Zealand’s best known equine veterinarians, Grierson is one of the principals of powerhouse harness breeding operation Woodlands Stud,
and it is through that role, he came to be the man in charge of the career of Speeding Spur.
New Zealand’s reigning trotter of the year, Speeding Spur won two Group 1 races last season for long-time trainers John and Josh Dickie but Grierson made the controversial decision to send him to the US to give him his chance against the world’s best and get a fast mile time to embellish his stallion career.
“I know I got some flak from some people at the time who thought he should have stayed here for the Inter Dominions but I thought he deserved his chance up there,” said Grierson.
“It wasn’t about the money, it was about him getting his chance and it is a hard business standing stallions and a good mile time and some big wins up there will help him get a real chance at stud down here.
“So this is the first step towards that. We had great trainers down here in John and Josh and he is getting wonderful care up there from Linda Toscano, so we are thrilled with how it has all panned out
“Linda is adamant he can go a lot faster and maybe even get down to sub-1:50 for the mile and that would really help his stud career.”
Speeding Spur’s win, admittedly against not the greatest open class field of the season as many of the glamour trotting mares were in a different race on the programme, opens plenty of doors.
He was already being suggested as the Down Under invite to the US$1m Yonkers Invitational in October while several of the other major trots in North America are on his radar.
“We will let him tell us where the limit is for him and how competitive he can be at the highest level,” says Grierson. “He was going to stay up there just for this season, but if he keeps improving, he could even spend next season up there.”
The win capped a great weekend for Kiwis in US harness racing as Dexter Dunn drove one of the richest winners of his career when Bettor’s Wish won the US$400,000 Carl Milstean Memorial at Northfield Park.
It was Dunn’s first night driving at Northfield Park and continues his dream season in the US, with Bettor’s Wish trained by another Kiwi ex-pat, Chris Ryder.