Our Maestoso NZ Photo by Photography by Jodie Hallows
Our Maestoso NZ continued his fabulous form in the trotters’ event at Pinjarra on Monday, making it two in a row for trainer Barry Howlett, driven by Chris Lewis who is edging himself closer to the elusive 6000 driving wins milestone, currently sitting on 5998.
Purchased as a yearling from New Zealand by the Howlett family, Our Maestoso NZ has had a slow preparation to the racetrack with very little to no two-year-old and three-year-old trotters’ races on offer in WA, but since making his debut earlier this season, the talented square gaiter has now had 10 wins from just 12 starts.
Opening exclaiming that they love the trotters, Howlett’s daughter Katie mentioned that their four-year-old not only has the ability, but the personality to match.
“Dad bought him in the NZ weanling sale as he’s related to Sunnys Little Whiz,
“He’s such a lovely natured kind boy.” Katie Howlett said.
After adding Sunnys Little Whiz to their stable in August 2016, he had a similar record to Our Maestoso NZ, winning his first six races in WA, before finishing runner-up twice, before another long string of wins beside his name. Sunnys Little Whiz retired in 2019 with 48 starts under his belt for 18 wins and 15 placings, and over $150,000 in stakes.
Quinton went one better this week to break through for his maiden win in the first on the card, with the $1.08 favourite leading all the way in the two-year-old event for trainer Mike Reed and Shannon Suvaljko.
Having just his fourth start in a race, punters were confident the youngster could get the job done in the small five horse field, with their confidence rewarded when he claimed a comfortable 4.1m victory over the 2185m trip in a winning mile rate of 2:04:4.
Emily Johnson got the call up this week to drive Kopper Kote, with the Stephen De Campo trained three-year-old breaking through for his maiden win at just his fourth start. Another favourite for the punters, it was a tight finish on the line in race two over the 2185m, with Kopper Kote coming out on top with a short-half-head margin on the line in 2:03:2.
Kim Prentice and Mitch Miller joined forces for a double on the day, with Our Lililou kicking off the festivities with a win in third. After leading all the way over the 1684m sprint trip, the three-year-old never looked in any danger, staving off her rivals to win by 2.2m in 1:57:0.
The pair then reunited in race 6, with Icy Winds coming from well back in the field to win by 5.6m in 1:55:7 over the 1684m trip.
Another win for the locals, with Ashanti Princess getting up at $23 odds for Frank Nafrenac and Maddy Young. After starting from barrier 10 over the 2185m trip, the pair settled one-out-three-back and after making their run home, came out on top with a short-half-head margin in 2:01:3.
Michael Brennan and Chris Voak teamed up in race seven, with Miss Sassy taking top spot in another thrilling finish on the day, to take the narrow victory ahead of the short, priced favourite in the race, Paul Edward for trainer/driver Dyaln Egerton-Green in 1:56:8.
The last on the card delivered Chris Voak his final instalment of his driving double on the day when he piloted the Giles Inwood trained My Little Big Man NZ to victory. After starting from the front-line handicap in the standing start over the 2631m trip, although not the cleanest away, the pair eventually worked their way to the front, kicking away to win by 9.8m in 2:02:0.
Ashleigh Paikos
