Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
New Zealand-bred four-year-old Jett Star gave a sample of his class and revealed wonderful fighting qualities when he scored an impressive victory in the 2536m The Chase On Seven Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Starting second favourite at $2.70, the Greg and Skye Bond-trained Jett Star was eighth early and then raced three wide into the breeze after 600m before forging to the front 1450m from home and running the final quarters in 28.7sec. and 29.7sec. as he won by almost a length from the $2.25 favourite Cool Water Paddy.
Cool Water Paddy, the polemarker, led for the first 1100m and then trailed the pacemaker before finishing solidly along the inside.
“I had driven Jett Star three times previously when he raced on a helmet with cover and raced okay,” said driver Deni Roberts. “This was the first time I’ve been without cover with Jett Star. The plan was to go forward (from barrier five). I didn’t need to rush out of the gate because I thought that the position outside the leader was always going to be there for him.
“The lead time was pretty good and when I got there (into the breeze) he didn’t have any intention of slowing down. And once he got his head in front, I thought he would come back to me. But he got a bit worse and I had to relent — and that was the end of that. So, I let him go to the front.
“Runs like that don’t really bother him, and he toughed it out really good.”
Roberts now has driven Jett Star four times for two wins and two seconds and the Bettors Delight stallion has earned $134,821 from 13 wins and five placings from 24 starts, with the highlight of his career being his victory over Lavra Joe in the Pearly for two-year-olds in June 2020.