Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Lightly-raced New Zealand-bred trotter Our Maestoso is carrying all before him, and his part-owner and trainer Barry Howlett has high hopes the five-year-old will exceed the deeds of his former star trotter Sunnys Little Whiz.
Sunnys Little Whiz was retired after racing 48 times for 18 wins, 15 placings and $150,140. She had 29 starts in WA for Howlett for 16 wins and ten placings, including a notable victory in the Trotters Cup in December 2016.
Master reinsman Chris Lewis, who has handled Our Maestoso in all of his 16 starts for 13 wins, two thirds and one sixth placing for stakes of $111,7000, was full of praise for Our Maestoso after he had scored an easy win in the 2130m Hoist Torque Australia Trot at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“Barry has done a great job with him,” said Lewis. “Our Maestoso is one of the better trotters I have driven. Cardigan Boko was an exceptional trotter, and he ran exceptional times. And Our Maestoso is heading in the right direction.”
Cardigan Boko, bred in Sweden, was retired with a record of 38 starts for 22 wins and five seconds for stakes of $141,027. A winner of eight races in Victoria, Cardigan Boko was trained in WA by Clive Dalton when driven by Lewis in all his 19 WA starts for 14 wins and two placings in 2015 and 2016.
Our Maestoso was the $2 favourite on Friday night when he began from barrier four and dashed to the front after 250m on his way to winning by a length from $3.90 chance Evas Image, who led early and then trailed Our Maestoso.