| FEATURE RACE COMMENT |
YEAR: 2003
 |
Diedre Don met his match when Citra Jati swooped on the hot favourite inside the final 100 metres to score a runaway win in the $25,000 Roydon Lodge NZ Two-year-old Trotting Stakes. Diedre Don was the form horse, having won three of his five starts.
While Citra Jati looked speedy in his opener, he was not as sharp as he could have been in two subsequent starts at Addington. According to Frank Bebbington, whose three daughters - Lynn Neal, Julie Bebbington and her twin sister Maree Harris - race the horse, Citra Jati had been off colour with a blood disorder and "wasn't right in himself." He made steady progress during his stay with Weedons trainer Nigel McGrath, and trainers Lynn and Andrew Neal were not surprised at the dramatic change in his form.
Citra Jati is one of the first crop of 11 sired by Special Branch, a son of Gee Whiz II who won the Trotting Stakes in 1998. He is now at stud in Australia. His dam is Highland Tour, a mare by Roydon Boy who died suddenly the day before the race. Citra Jati is from a family of fast trotters, including Royal Armour, Trafalgar, Globetour (9 wins) and Kiwi Tour (7).
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 28May03