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Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators

Talented New Zealand-bred four-year-old Jett Star is far from a stylist and a smooth-moving pacer. But he certainly has plenty of ability — and he showed that again at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he was a smart all-the-way winner at a 1.57.1 rate in the 2130m gloucesterpark.com.au Pace.

Raced by Team Bond and prepared by leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, Jett Star was the $1.70 favourite from the No. 1 barrier, and he resisted a spirited early challenge from $10 chance Valbonne to set a solid pace and go on and win by 2m from the fast-finishing $4.40 chance Sports Package.

It was an impressive display by Jett Star, who made amends for a shock defeat at Pinjarra at his previous appearance, when he finished fifth in a field of six after racing in the breeze and breaking into a gallop 850m from home, recovering to return to the breeze and then racing roughly on the home turn.

“I don’t think you will see what happened at Pinjarra happen again,” said reinsman Ryan Warwick. “I think it was just a one-off.

“From his first start as a two-year-old he looked awkward and didn’t look all that well educated. And he has always looked like that. He won the Pearl (June 2020), beating Lavra Joe, doing it, so it can’t be too bad.

“I don’t think that this awkwardness will ever go. He just makes it look hard. He doesn’t pace cleanly; he races with his neck out and he doesn’t give you a good feel. But he has won ten of 16, so obviously he goes okay.”

 Warwick said he was quite happy to be challenged by Valbonne in the early stages, saying: “He needs that, otherwise he gets too blasé. If another horse eyeballs him, he’s quite happy. The early pressure helped him for the rest of the race because he was keen and doing it nicely. If that hadn’t happened, he would’ve just slopped around. He is just hard work.”

Jett Star, who is by Bettors Delight, is out of the Falcon Seelster mare Steel The Light, who had 32 starts for seven wins, nine placings and $40,639. Jett Star has earned $107,052 from ten wins and two placings from 16 starts. He will be at the forefront of contenders for the $50,000 Four-Year-Old Championship on November 18, the $125,000 Four-Year-old Classic on December 2, and the $200,000 Goden Nugget on December 16.