Early days Greviste gave Mitchell Freedman a bit of cause for worry, this horse – a son of Stryker purchased at the Inglis Melbourne Premier – was just so laid back, so relaxed.
“He could’ve been a lead pony at two!” Mitchell joked.
It led him to wonder, before Greviste was tested on the track, if there could possibly be any fire in this horse’s belly.
But from the first gallop he knew there was and on Wednesday, at just his fourth start, the good looking black three-year-old proved just how good he is with a barnstorming victory at Sandown.
Stepping up in class off an impressive maiden victory at Ballarat, Greviste was also up in distance and weight, taking on some smart ones in what looked to be an open race.
An outside barrier draw was far from ideal but Greviste settled nicely back in the field for Jarrod Fry, giving him a good feel throughout.
Coming to the 400m and there was not a great deal of room for Greviste who had been sneaking up along the rails but Fry bided his time and at the 200m a split appeared.
And through the gap Greviste charged, reeling in the leader Ajuda who had put a couple of lengths on the field and putting his nose out where it mattered.
“I was shaking my head a bit after about 50m,” Mitchell admitted, “we’d drawn an outside gate but we ended up near last on the rails!”
“But to give Jarrod his due he was patient and to give the horse credit he was able to pick up quickly, showing a really good turn of foot.”
Mitchell recalled Ben Melham riding Greviste at his Ballarat debut in June last year, after an encouraging fifth the jockey telling connections that “you will have a lot of fun with this horse.”
And hopefully the best is still to come with Mitchell confident that Greviste will be all the better as he steps up in distance – a rich VOBIS Gold race at Caulfield over the mile next month a lovely aim for the exciting young gelding.
“He is a promising horse,” Fry said, “he travelled beautifully today, he towed me into the race and hit the line well – and he still has improvement in him.”
