By Glenn Davis
He’s my champion and I love him!
That’s how Caloundra trainer Darryl Hansen summed up Monsieur Gustave’s win in the George Moore Stakes at Doomben on Saturday.
Monsieur Gustave showed his toughness leading all the way off a wide gate to just hold off the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Sydney raider Calanda in the 1200-metre Group 3 feature.
Monsieur Gustave prevailed by a nose with the fast finishing Snoopy, third, only a head away.
It was sweet revenge for Hansen who earlier finished second with Bring It Home Pop to another Sydney raider Pierata in the Winning Rupert Plate.
Monsieur Gustave’s victory was his fourth Stakes win in a row and earned a shot at the Summer Crown series.
“It was a close finish but I thought he had just won,” Hansen said.
“He did it tough early and I knew they would come at him at the end.
“But he fought on like a caged tiger.”
Monsieur Gustave, a close relative of former star sprinter Lankan Rupee, was a $34,000 buy at the Magic Millions sales and has now won eight times from 17 starts with prizemoney in excess of $530,000.
“He’s my champion and I love him,” Hansen said.
“I’ll let the dust settle for a few days but he’ll go after the Summer Crown races now.”
The second leg of the Summer Crown series, the Listed Lough Neagh Stakes (1350m) will be run at Doomben on December 16.
The remaining legs are The Buffering (1200m) at Doomben on December 30 and the Magic Millions Cup (1400m) and Magic Millions Sprint (1200m) at the Gold Coast on January 13.
“The Magic Millions Cup is his grand final,” Hansen said.
Hansen offered no excuses for Bring It Home Pop’s earlier defeat in the Winning Rupert Plate.
“He did a great job but the winner looks pretty smart and was just too good on the day,” Hansen said.
“He’ll go on to all the main three-year-old races during the summer."
Monsieur Gustave was perfectly rated in front by apprentice Tiffany Brooker who collected her second Group 3 win.
Her previous Group 3 triumph was aboard the John Zielke-trained Dreams Aplenty in the Gunsynd Classic during the Brisbane winter carnival.
Racing Queensland webnews Dec 2