Racing Future Of Champion Trotter In Limbo

THE racing future of Australasia's champion trotter Just Believe is in limbo after an injury setback.

The globetrotting superstar, who boasts 38 wins and over $2 million in prize money, is returning home from NZ after "a few issues" cut his feature race pillage short.

Given Just Believe is a rising nine-year-old, any setback is very concerning.

Trained at Myrniong in Victoria by husband and wife, Greg Sugars and Jess Tubbs, Just Believe had earned comparisons with the greatest trotters of all time given his feature race rampage over the past two-and-half years.

In a social media post, Tubbs and Sugars revealed: "A bit of a disappointing update to share, but our man Harry (Just Believe's stable name) will be heading home next week … so we can properly assess a few issues that he is currently dealing with.

"Harry's welfare will always be paramount and a rest of what the Dr (sic) has ordered for now.

"He's loved his time in and his Dominion (Trot) win is one we will never forget!"

Just Believe's Down Under dominance saw him earned an invite to the iconic Elitlopp Trot in Sweden in May, last year. He struck trouble on the home bend and galloped.

But the gelding showed he was genuinely world class with two subsequent placings against some of the world's best trotters in Sweden.

Remarkably, since returning from Sweden late last year, Just Believe has raced 23 times in Australia and NZ for 20 wins and three seconds.

He scored one of the most significant wins of his career in the Group 1 Dominion Trot at Addington on November 12, then did a power of work and finished a brave second to local star Oscar Bonavena in the Group 1 NZ Trotting Free-For-All three days later.

Just Believe was being set for another Group 1 win in the National Trot at Auckland's Alexandra Park on New Year's Eve.

Tubbs and Sugars opted to continue campaigning their stable star in NZ rather than chase an unprecedented third successive win in the current Inter Dominion trotting series in NSW.

Given his age, this setback raises doubts over his racing future and, at the least, puts a big question mark next to majors like the Great Southern Star at Melton in February.

Just Believe's earnings of $2,031,345 put him second only to the mighty Lyell Creek ($2,256,724) as the richest all-time Australasian trotter.

Champion trotter Just Believe has run his last race.

Co-trainers Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars confirmed the global superstar had been retired after niggling issues emerged during his hugely successful NZ campaign late last year.

"It's with a tinge of sadness, but an overwhelming sense of pride we announce the retirement of our champion, Just Believe," Tubbs and Sugars posted on social media.

"We could list the races he won, or the money he earned, but it was the hearts he captured around the world that really set ‘Harry' (Just Believe's stable name) apart.

"His incredible strength and determination to win were second to none and we couldn't be more grateful for the journey he has taken us on. A huge thank you to all of Harry's owners for the opportunity they gave us with this incredible horse.

"In the end, it was Harry's refusal to give up that brought about his retirement, with us no longer able to trust him to tell us when things were getting sore.

"He has nothing left to prove and his welfare is paramount. Happy retirement, Harry. We're sure going to miss you."

Just Believe raced 83 times for 38 wins, 23 placings and banked $1,929,253 in prizemoney, which is second only to the mighty Lyell Creek ($2,256,724) as the all-time richest Australasian trotter.

It was a switch from former trainer Michael Hughes, who retired, to the Tubbs and Sugars stable in mid-2022 which sparked Just Believe's stunning emergence.

In 42 starts for the stable, he won 30 times, ran nine seconds and a third.

Just Believe's only unplaced run came when he struck trouble, galloped and finished tailed-out in a heat of the world's biggest trotting race, the Elitlopp, in Sweden in May, 2023.

The gelding won 10 Group 1 races, including two Inter Dominion finals, a Great Southern Star, Dominion Trot and Rowe Cup.

His last start was a typically brave second after doing all the grunt work behind NZ's top trotter Oscar Bonavena in the Group 1 NZ Trotting free-for-all at Addington in Christchurch on November 15.

Remarkably, what was expected to be a daunting and draining trip to Sweden in mid-2023 actually took Just Believe to another level.

"There's no doubt he came back a better horse. He was different around home and better at the races," Sugars said.

After Sweden, Just Believe raced 23 times for 20 wins and three seconds.

Racecaller Dan Mielicki, the voice of Australian harness racing, said Just Believe was one of the greatest horses of either code he called.

"It's been an absolute pleasure to call him. He's one of very horses I've seen who looked as comfortable outside the leader as he was in front," he said.

"He is the closest in talent to Lyell Creek that I've seen and not far behind him at all. He did what a great trotter does and totally dominated his generation."

Just Believe crowned New Zealand Horse of the Year

CHAMPION trotter Just Believe's greatness has gone to another level even in retirement after being crowned the New Zealand Horse of the Year.

The globetrotting gelding became just the second Australian horse and the first in a staggering 40 years to beat the Kiwis in their biggest harness racing award.

The other was Norm Lang-trained NSW pacer Steel Jaw, who tied with great Kiwi trotter Sir Castleton in the 1983/84 season.

Remarkably, Just Believe won the crown from just six starts in NZ, which netted five wins and a second in the Group 1 NZ Trotting Free-For-All on November 15, which was his last start before being retired due to injury.

Just Believe won three Group 1 races – Dominion Trot, Rowe Cup and National Trot – in NZ last year, but his most significant win came in the inaugural $NZ 600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge last April.

Earlier at last night's awards ceremony, Just Believe became just the third Aussie to be crowned NZ Trotter of the Year.

He followed greats Scotch Notch (1982/83) and La Coocaracha (2001/02).

The Aussie flavour extended to unbeaten Terang three-year-old Keayang Zahara, who is the most exciting harness horse in this part of the world with 14 wins from as many starts and seven at Group 1 level.

Keayang Zahara won the NZ 3YO Trotting Filly of the Year on the strength of three NZ wins, headed by the inaugural $NZ500,000 Velocity and Group 1 NZ Trotting Derby – both against the boys.

NZ's Owner of the Year Award also went to Australia and the Queensland-based Dean Shannon, largely through the deeds of his open-class star Merlin.

It was a massive year for Aussie horses in NZ when you consider the NSW-trained Swayzee successfully defended his crown in their biggest race, the iconic NZ Cup, while Victoria's Better Eclipse won the Group 1 Auckland Cup.

Exciting, it looks set to continue with stars like Leap To Fame, Catch A Wave, The Locomotive, Keayang Chucky and Arcee Phoenix set to chase the two rich slot races – Race by Betcha and TAB Trot – at Cambridge on April 4.

Leap To Fame quickly returned to winning form after his huge Hunter Cup second when he easily won Saturday's $100,000 Group 2 Cranbourne Cup.

Trainer-driver Grant Dixon is following the same path he did to win last year's $1 million Group 1 Miracle Mile.

"It worked to put him on the plane back home (to Brisbane) after Cranbourne then float him back to Newcastle for that next race," he said. "He loves it at home and we've got green grass at the moment."

Victory in the $100,000 Group 1 Newcastle Mile on Friday week will get Leap To Fame a ticket straight into the Miracle Mile.

Kiwi star Dont Stop Dreaming, who ran second to Leap To Fame in last year's Hunter Cup and a luckless seventh this year, returned to his best with a terrific second at Cranbourne after doing all the work outside the leader.

He's set to join star stablemate Oscar Bonavena, who won last night's Group 1 Bruce Skeggs Trotters' Cup at Cranbourne, on the road to Sydney to chase more Group 1 success.

Oscar Bonavena will chase the $100,000 Hammerhead Mile on Miracle Mile night and Dont Stop Dreaming will target the Miracle Mile itself.