Sale of Major Star

A nice drive by the concession driver .The Gath team have cottoned on to the best way to drive Star is to follow early, then unleash at the 500 or so.  Not so easy in a bigger, better field I guess but they look to be moving in the right direction.

Yes Des, funny how that speed seems to have been rediscovered.  Maybe it has something to do with keeping him off the grass!

Looking through his record I see that he did race on 3 successive weeks in 2013, culminating in a win at his 3rd. attempt, so history has been repeated so to speak.

For those who did not see it live, take a look at Major Star in race seven at Geelong tonight. It is available on the Australian Harness Racing website. He was not used up until the final half lap, he sped past the opposition down the back and ran away in the straight. That was his fourth start in three weeks. When he rediscovers his speed that he apparently lost somewhere on the outer grass tracks of New Zealand and gets his runs spaced out because he can't back up his races ... then his new owners should have some fun times.

They are backing him up even more quickly this week with only a 5 day break between races. He races Thursday evening at Geelong this week, but it does appear to be a slightly easier $6,500 race with a concessionary junior driver - are they lowering their targets for him or are they trying to build his winning confidence? Obviously the connections think he is up to the task - it is a workload that I don't believe that he was ever placed under here in NZ largely due to weight management issues.

For a horse that has "lost his speed" Major Star's near track record in the Popular Alm Sprint and running about 1.54 at Melton without getting a run until the swoopers had gone clear ... is indeed a promising start for his new connections. Imagine if he finds his speed again.

That was a good run by Star last night at Melton to run third. He went out favourite but started from the inside of the back row and was only ever going to run a place if he received an ounce of luck in the running. The fact that he managed to finish third from three back on the markers was a good effort.
Did I think that he would back up for a third week in a row and still be competitive - no.
A new trainer and new environment?

The second run by Star in Australia wasn't so flash. He went out favourite but capitulated coming down the final straight to finish last.
Hopefully it is not a sign of his big frame folding under pressure (read "lasix" into that comment) and is more a clue to his new owners not to back him up for weekly racing. He is running yet again this week, albeit over a shorter 1720m distance, so I will watch with interest.
His weight needs to be managed carefully as he struggles to hold weight. Weekly racing = problem......

A good second by Major Star. A 1:53 + mile rate , just outside the track record at a major country track ... first up. I am sure that the new owners are thrilled. Behind Major Star were highly rated Victorian horses Cold Major, Exciteusinthecity and Chilli Palmer. Another ex Brent Mangos horse, Crocket's Cullen, won the following race in which ex NZ horse Macha was also a runner but met severe interference.

Thanks for the info Des.

That makes his $6.50 and $2.00 fixed odds on the NZ TAB look rather generous and too tempting for me to not have nibble at.

Major Star had his first public outing at Melton (Tabcorp Park) trials last week and worked to the lead at the 800m and beat Interdominion runner up Flaming Flutter by 20m with a 56.6 last 800m.

Major Star is scheduled to have his first race in Aus for his new owners. He's in the Popular Alm sprint over 1690m at Kilmore on Saturday night which is race 6 at 8pm local time. (10pm NZ time)

Yes Conwell, Australian records about as dodgy as their TMO's

I have now added MAJOR STAR NZ  to my Australian Harness Racing site Black Book.

ray the beancounter wrote:I keep regularly checking the Andy Gath Racing Stables website (http://www.andygathracing.com/our-stable/) to see if Star is listed, but alas not as yet even though he has been domiciled in Aus for two weeks now.

I see that Major Star has now been added to the 'Our Stable' section on Andy Gath's website.

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However, some of his information is rather inaccurate.

Starts - 25? (actually 44)
Wins - 9 (correct)
Placings - 8 (huh? you mean 16 right?)
Stakemoney - $82,861 (wrong again, $129,936 NZD which is still way more than $83K if you convert to AUD)

He's listed as racing twice at Claudelands (one of these was at Cambridge and the other at Te Awamutu) and once at Hutt Park. (which was actually Manawatu raceway)
Also, who is this driver Steven Lawson?

Conwell ... have a look at the replay of that race at Kilmore (available on Australian Harness Racing website). Major star settled back in the field and just as he started to circle the field in the last lap there was mass interference with Major Star spearing to the outside fence and was a huge run to finish held up just behind the placegetters. This run actually supports your theory rather than diminish it.

I was looking over the stats that I keep for the ATC syndicate horses that I've had ownership in and came across something surprising that I thought I would share.

Major Star - big fella with a long stride that was better suited over longer distances?

That's not really how his stats read on paper.  

Major Star had 6 starts over distances 2150m or less for 4 wins and a Group 1 2nd!! (by a nose!! )
His only unplaced start over a short distance was his last effort on a rain sodden New Plymouth grass track where he clearly didn't handle the going.
His first 2 starts as a late 2YO were wins over 1700m at Alex Park and 2150m at Bendigo. His other 2 wins over shorter distances were a 1700m Junior Drivers at Cambridge as a 4YO and lastly his final win for us over 2000m in the Palmerstonian at Manawatu as a 6YO.

Star actually never won over further than 2500m in 15 attempts!
8 of those were on grass tracks where he placed 6 times and the other 7 were on all weather tracks where he only placed once.

Confession time: while the stats above are correct I was originally going to list all starts less than 2200m which would have also include an unplaced run over 2180m in the Breeders Crown repecharge at Kilmore, but I decided that the stats looked better without it.  

I keep regularly checking the Andy Gath Racing Stables website (http://www.andygathracing.com/our-stable/) to see if Star is listed, but alas not as yet even though he has been domiciled in Aus for two weeks now.

Major Star was due to fly out today. Did he get on the flight this time? If he did, it has been an interesting 5 years or so with the original three horses selected for ATC 2012 now gone and Ideal Belle (the racehorse) being the final representative for this syndicate. I fully appreciate the hard work and dedication put in by Brent Mangos and his team, but equally so I hope to see a rejuvenated Major Star finally living up to his early potential that he was never really able to manage in New Zealand.

I note with great interest that Major Star is to be trained in Victoria by top trainer Andy Gath. I am keen to follow Major Star's racing career in Australia and how he performs with a new trainer against the Australian horses that are very familiar to me from watching Sky Racing on race days / nights.

Since that great race when Major Star beat The Faithful last August, Major Star has raced twice against Christen Me etc. and had numerous placings on grass. At his last start on a hard track, in mid March, he came three and four wide for the last lap to win the Palmerstonian Classic. His later second in the Country Cups Final was great fun to watch with him hitting the front just after the line. Major Star is a six year old who has only had 44 starts at a 57% 1st, 2nd or 3rd record. He only had 10 starts before he turned four. His last start failure can be ignored as it was on a bog track and he finished well behind horses that he had thrashed earlier. As a last start winner on a hard track, I see him as a tough staying horse who is lightly raced and in good current form. I can't understand why members are willing to let him be sold for $500 per share yet pay out $2000 to become involved in a new syndicate with three yearlings that they hope would be as good as Major Star. Currently I am paying as much for Major Change and three unraced two year olds of unknown ability, as I am for Major Star. Clearly though, I am in the minority as the unanimous vote to sell indicates.

I can't say I am excited about selling to Australia.  I believe he has a future in USA with the aid of Lasix and short races but I have seen too many horses fiogged and unhappy in Australian racing and with his past problems his racing future there is dubious. I recall one of our ATC trainers refer to how sad he was to see one of his better than average performers (not a syndicate horse) having a tough time of it there.

As to his loss of speed here I am puzzled too as he ran a 55.2 last half at Pukekohe in a workout back in February.

Carefully spaced  unhoppled racing on all weather tracks in New Zealand is still an option in my opinion . Prolonged grass track racing will slow most horses I believe.

However should there be a reassurance that he would be racing in a suitable class at the better venues and with preknowledge of his racing record here, then a sale to Australia may not be an unreasonable option.

I have not heard any word as to whether he is still in training - one would have thought so.
As to a new sale, surely a new contract and a new price = a new meeting of members.

So in the meantime I hope that Major Star is still in training to race as we have paid to get him to racing fitness and the best way to sell a horse is to have him racing well. If an offer is made, does the syndicate have to meet again to make a decision on the new price? My choice would be to keep Major Star and find a trainer who believes that he has a future. He is a very competitive racehorse and even if he does not pay his way, he always provides the interest and competitive racing performances that we hope to experience when we sign up for these syndicates. I did not join the syndicates to make money but to enjoy the involvement. Take him swimming, gallop under saddle, beach work, train him in heats, round up sheep ... try something different. The USA trainers only want horses who can run in the low 1:50's so he can't have lost his speed, only the desire. Remember that he flew in that trial against Hughie Green not too long ago.

I was disappointing to get an email from Rob Carr this evening advising that the sale of Major Star had fallen through. The indication from Rob last Friday evening was that this would be the likely outcome but it is still disappointing nonetheless.
I would still like to see him do his future racing in America rather than Australia so it will be interesting to see what potential sale offers can be garnered over the coming weeks.

I think the general opinion of all was that Jack went as well as could be expected from his awful draw. A good draw in the messenger and jewels would be his best friend as he is a notch below the top horses such as Field Marshall as could be seen when Field Marshall went forward in the running but left Jack behind. A kinder run is needed to get Jack in a good position with about 800m left to run where he can use his lethal sprint to finish the race. He ran a quality time even running 10th in a time that was roughly the same as Belle's national 1700m mares record.

Thank you ray the beancounter for your update. It is all part of the interesting Major Star storyline that we have followed as ATC 2012 members. What did everybody think about the Faithful in the Taylor Mile? Field Marshal certainly was a great run and worthy winner. The Faithful could not keep up with him when he went three wide and then he seemed to get held up by Hug The Wind. Still he went 1.54 mile rate whilst 3/4/5 wide and was still coming at the finish so a very respectable run. Were the driver and trainer happy? Hopefully we can draw well in The Messenger and The Jewels.

Des I  managed to make a rare appearance at Alexandra Park on Friday evening and the advice from Rob was that Star was pulled from his scheduled flight on Friday as no funds have been received and the expected vet check has not taken place. The broker that negotiated the deal is currently in Toronto and is proving difficult to contact and isn't responding to emails. Next flight is not until 6th May.
Is it a genuine offer or are they just tyre-kickers? Possibly too early to say but not looking as hopeful as previously.