He may have been spotting his rivals several lengths in the running but exciting three-year-old Greviste had Saturday’s Adapt Australia Handicap won a long way from home!
Settling last of the eleven runners, Greviste began his run from the 600m and coming to the turn was cruising for in-form apprentice Beau Mertens who was having his first run on the imposing black.
Storming down the outside, hitting the lead with 80m to go, Greviste proved a class above his well credentialled rivals racing away to an impressive 1 3/4 length victory over the favourite The Passage.
“The tempo suited,” Mertens reported, “he relaxed out the back and stalked them. He got a beautiful cart into the race and hit the line really well.”
“He is a nice horse,” he added – “he will go on from that and win more races, he was definitely the class horse of that field.”
Recording his third win from just eight starts, Greviste impressed Mitchell Freedman who was happy to see him ridden coldly.
“He was a bit close to them at Flemington last start and hit the lead too early but you could see today that he was really trucking with the speed on. “
“He pulled a bit at that previous run, it had been hard to get him ready for that as the tracks down our way had all been so wet. But today he travelled sweetly and had that last crack at them.”
Mitchell was keen to pay credit to stable staff who have been taking on a bit extra whilst the trainer recovers from a knee reconstruction.
“They have been doing a terrific job whilst I’ve been out, we are so lucky to have both great staff and great owners.”
One of those owners is Tim Whitehead who just happens to be the surgeon who operated on Mitchell’s knee, the result of injury caused by playing local football.
Still on the lame side at Moonee Valley, Mitchell was nevertheless very happy as were Greviste’s big group of owners led by Michael McGrath who was all smiles in the winners room!
Whilst Mitchell has made his name winning races with tried older horses, he is keen to show that the team are very capable of buying young horses at the sales and taking them patiently through to the races.
Greviste is one such horse, catching Mitchell’s eye at the 2015 Inglis Melbourne Premier where he was secured for just $36,000… and already he has won over 4.3 times that amount!
By Fastnet Rock’s regally bred son Stryker, Greviste is out of the King Charlemagne mare Chartilla, a half-sister to Listed winner Galvanized from a strong local family that has produced the stakes winners Hot Dipped, Crazy Neaux, La Bella Dame, Damselfly, Le Bonsir and Twisted Logic.
