by Adam Hamilton

Just before Christmas, trainer Anton Golino feared the huge Yabby Dams team may have wasted their money on Callmethebreeze.

But now the French-bred European import is the toast of Down Under trotting.

Callmethebreeze, a 6-year-old son of Trixton, upstaged Aussie champion Just Believe to win in last Saturday night’s (Feb. 3) $300,000 Group 1 Great Southern Star final in race and track record time.

“I worked him and he seemed more like an old stallion interested in other things,” Golino said. “Pat [Driscoll, owner of Yabby Dams] watched his work and I said he might have been ‘had.’ But I changed a few things, got him behind a galloping pacemaker and everything changed.

“We’ve never had a horse like this, an older horse with a great record, so it’s different. We make most of our horses from a young age. It’s such a thrill to see him come out and do this.”

Golino, who boasts stints with Noel Daley, Jean-Pierre Dubois and Timo Nurmos, is underselling his role in Callmethebreeze’s stunning and almost immediate impact in Australia.

Callmethebreeze raced very well, but did a few things wrong when a solid second to Just Believe in his Aussie debut in the Group 2 Knight Pistol Trot at Ballarat on Jan. 20.

“There were plenty of positives to take from the [race], especially given he didn’t handle the home bend at all, but picked himself up again and still made some ground on Just Believe late,” driver Nathan Jack said. “Then Anton showed his genius. He’s some sort of trainer. He changed a few things and I got a text early last week saying he was really happy with the horse. When Anton sounds excited, and that’s pretty rare, then I start to get excited.”

Like the Little Brown Jug and Elitloppet, the Great Southern Star consists of heats and a final on the same race card.

Jack’s excitement grew even more after Callmethebreeze made the most of an ideal draw and his early speed to lead easily and thrash his rivals in the first and weakest heat of the Great Southern Star.

He looked to win with plenty in the tank by 18.4m in a 1:53.4 mile.

It was a statement.

Jack surprised many when at the barrier draw for the final, when it came his time to pick an alley, he went for the second row (post 10) rather than wide on the front (six and seven were still available).

“Even though that left Just Believe to likely get one of those front row draws, I preferred to take 10 where I didn’t have to be part of the early burn and hoped I could settle midfield in the running line,” Jack said. “It played out pretty much as I hoped. Just Believe had to do a bit of work to get outside the leader and rather than let it become a sprint home, I got going early to put some pressure on [Just Believe].

“I couldn’t let him dictate because he [raced] home in :54.7 in his heat, I had to make it a staying test. When Greg [Sugars, driver] went for Just Believe on the home bend and didn’t kick away on me, I thought I was right in it and my bloke just kept coming, he was so strong. It was a mighty win and given all the circumstances, it’s one of the biggest and most enjoyable wins of my career.”

Callmethebreeze, who had won over $1.5 million and two Group 1’s in Europe, won Down Under’s biggest trotting race by a neck in a blazing 1:53.1 mile rate for 1,720m.

And he’d shown he was the complete package by leading throughout in the heat and coming wide from the speed in the final.

“It’s a huge thrill,” Driscoll said. “It shows what you can do if you spend a bit of money on the right sort of horse from over there [in Europe].

“We took a bit of a punt, especially going into a big race like that with one trial and one lead-up race and against Just Believe, but it paid off. It was very satisfying.”

Ironically, Driscoll said the deal was started as he sat at Solvalla watching Just Believe on Elitloppet Day last May. Adding to that, Driscoll also bred Just Believe.

But Callmethebreeze won’t be returning to Europe.

The breeding barn beckons given his huge value as a stallion, but there’s more feature racing to come Down Under yet.

“Barring injury, the plan is for another two years racing at the top level,” Driscoll said.

Golino said the next major target would likely be the $100,000 Hammerhead Mile at Menangle on March 9.

That’s the race former star mare Maori Time set the Australasian record 1:51.5 record a few years back with Toddy McCarthy in the bike.

Given how much quicker the 1,400m Menangle track is compared to the 1000m Melton circuit, that Australasian record will be under serious threat if, as expected, Callmethebreeze and Just Believe clash again in the Hammerhead.

“You’d think if Callmethebreeze and/or Just Believe draw well and it is a warm night, they’ll really test that record,” Driscoll said.

Just Believe certainly lost no admirers after sitting parked throughout in record time and fighting all the way down the straight for his narrow defeat.

The huge Melton crowd gave him a hero’s reception coming off the track despite tasting his first defeat in eight starts since returning from his three-race Swedish campaign in the middle of last year.

After the Hammerhead comes what looms as the strongest trotting race Down Under has seen in 10, maybe 20 or more, years.

The inaugural $575,000 TAB Trot — a slot race — is at Cambridge in New Zealand on April 12.

Callmethebreeze will race in the Yabby Dams slot, Just Believe and star trotting mare Queen Elida are locked in, too.

Then there are the Kiwi stars headed by Oscar Bonavena, Muscle Mountain and Bolt For Brilliance.