 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2003
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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Tim Butt warned us about it in pre-season interviews. And Take A Moment proved it when he stepped out at Addington last Thursday night. The champ has come back looking even better than he was last season.
Put that into perspective, and it's a scary thought. This is the horse that won 15 of 16 starts during 2002/03, capturing every major trotting event there was on his way to a bounty of over $500,000 in stakemoney - not to mention a well deserved Harness Horse of the Year title.
Can he actually be better than that? "Well, he has definitely strengthened up a lot," said Butt as he welcomed his stable star back at the stalls after winning the Ordeal Cup. "He has come back as good as you would hope. You never know after a long seasson like he had , but we never over-taxed him. That was a good hitout for him. It was a small field, so the conditions were in his favour."
Take A Moment did indeed look a picture when he resumed last week, and the now 8-year-old performed like a horse half his age. Sent around to joint the pacemaking Major Decision starting the last mile, Take A Moment sat comfortably off his wheel and waited patiently for pilot Anthony Butt to ask him to get serious. Butt did this around the final turn, and the response was instantaneous as Take A Moment careered away for the easiest of wins. As if the spectacle wasn't awe-inspiring enough, Take A Moment's time of 3:16.5 for the mobile 2600 metre event on a chilly night - under absolutely no duress - was.
Cool under the pressure of another job well done, Anthony paid the Armbro Invasion gelding the ultimate compliment. "Most good horses have their little faults, even Lyell did. But driving Take A Moment is like driving a car - you can stop and start him whenever you want to. He is just about the perfect racehorse."
Even some of Take A Moment's rival drivers were reaching for the white flag after the event. "You can't beat him," said one. And to be honest, how could you? If Take A Moment is stronger and better and even more keen to be out there kicking out top trotter's backsides, bad luck is the only thing that stands in the way of him having another unbelievable season.
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 17Sep03