LAST season’s star two-year-old Grand Tycoon produced another brilliant performance to score a win at his first start this season in a 3YO Handicap carrying the huge weight of 61 kilograms.
With his regular jockey Brendon McCoull aboard with loads of dead weight (lead) in the saddle bags, the Barry Campbell-trained gelding shared the lead before easing to trail Gee Gees Style and Isn’t Life Strange to the home turn but when Gee Gees Style rolled off the fence McCoull drove Grand Tycoon through the gap to challenge for the lead.
At on stage it looked as if Grand Tycoon would win clearly but he started to feel the effect of carrying such a huge impost and the judge took several minutes to post his number (1) on the semaphore board.
Grand Tycoon gained the judge’s decision by the narrowest of margins over Isn’t Life Strange with Gee Gees Style a close-up third.
Campbell was thrilled with the victory.
“This horse just knows how to win. He hasn’t grown much and he isn’t a very big horse but he has a huge heart and just wants to beat the other horses,” he said.
He won seven from eight last season because he was so honest and while it won’t be easy to place him here in Tassie because of the big weights he is likely to het we might have to think about slipping across the water to try and find races where he’ll get some weight relief,” he said.