A decision by trainers Greg and Skye Bond to change the working pattern for veteran pacer Gee Heza Sport and to race him for the first time with hood type blinkers in the Team Bond Minstrel Free-For-All over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night paid handsome dividends.
The New Zealand-bred eight-year-old was the $2.20 favourite from out wide at barrier No. 8, and he responded to the changes and ended a losing sequence of eleven when Deni Roberts drove him to a narrow victory, rating 1.54 over 2130m after final quarters (off the front) of 27.6sec. and 27.8sec.
Roberts was content to allow Gee Heza Sport to settle down in tenth position while $10 chance Sweet Pins was setting the pace. She sent the gelding forward approaching the bell and followed the three-wide run of $6 chance Menemsha.
Menemsha was struggling turning into the back straight, forcing Roberts to switch wider, and Gee Heza Sport was looking vulnerable in eighth place with 500m to travel. Gee Heza Sport moved to second at the 250m mark, but he appeared most unlikely to win when he was almost two lengths from the leader at the 100m mark and a length behind Sweet Pins 50m later.
However, Gee Heza Sport lifted courageously and surged strongly to get up and snatch a last-stride victory by a head over Sweet Pins.
Mrs Bond praised Gee Heza Sport’s fighting spirit, saying: “I thought he was a 20/1 chance on the home turn, and even half-way down the straight he didn’t look like he was going to get there.
“For older horses, sometimes a change is as good as a holiday. Sometimes they just go through the motions, and we weren’t happy with his Fremantle Cup run (a well-beaten eleventh behind Magnificent Storm late last month).
“He didn’t really find the line at all, so we changed his work and his head gear. We freshened him up and gave him a few gallops on the hard (track) rather than working him in the sand.”
Mrs Bond said that there were no plans for Gee Heza Sport to travel to Brisbane to contest the Interdominion series in July. “He is not a horse who is suited to back-up racing like he would have to in the heats of the Inters.
“We will pick a few Free-For-Alls for him over the winter months, and we haven’t yet decided whether to take Golden Lode and/or Minstrel to Queensland for the Inters series,” she said.
Roberts and the Bond stable completed a double on Friday night when New Zealand-bred four-year-old Rumble Strip, the $1.30 favourite, dashed to an early lead and went on to win the 2130m Westral Plantation Timber Shutters Pace by four lengths from $16 chance Rox The World.
Rumble Strip’s 20 starts have produced eight wins, six seconds and $81,890, and he has the potential to go on and become a top-class performer in the mould of Gee Heza Sport, who has earned $580,896 from 16 wins and 18 placings from 71 starts.
