Chateau De Ville confirmed his status as Victoria’s premier two-year-old squaregaiter with a win in last night’s Schweppes Vicbred Super Series 2YO Trotters Final at Melton’s Tabcorp Park.
The Alex Douglas-trained youngster added the Group 1 Vicbred title to the Group 2 Tatlow Stakes crown he won on June 11 when he proved too strong in the $50,000 decider.
Champion reinsman Gavin Lang, who was having his first drive aboard the Sebastopol-based son of Conch De Ville, said the gelding was taking full advantage of the precociousness that has carried him to four wins from six starts.
“He’s won two majors already and he feels pretty foolproof,” Lang said. “Provided he holds his form he’ll be a major player in anything he contests.”
The 2240-metre Vicbred decider was a case of déjà vu. Similar to the Tatlow final, regally-bred colt Kaptin Bly again proved the bane off favourite backers, throwing any chance of victory with bad manners.
The $1.50 favourite galloped in the score up, costing himself 60m, and broke again just as trainer-driver Peter Hornsby was attempting to put the son of Zesta into the race with a three-wide run a lap from home.
Chateau De Ville also began tardily, but managed to keep his stride and was given time to find his feet by Lang.
He then took the option of hitching a three-wide ride on the back of Djasker 1500m out before assuming the spot outside leader Me Neither by the bell.
Lang then bided his time before issuing a challenge to Me Neither rounding the home turn. He hit the front at the 150m before holding off a number of fast-finishing rivals to score a strong win.
At the line the $3.50 second elect had just over two metres to spare from I See Icy Earl ($63) with Djasker ($25) 1.4m away in third, just in advance of the unlucky Living Bonus ($24).
The mile rate was 2:06.1, which included closing splits of 30.8 and 30.3 seconds.
Last night’s program also showcased two Vicbred semi finals for the two-year-old male pacers and they had mixed results for punters.
The youngster most expected to win easily, Royal Verdict, fell victim to classy Peter Tonkin-trained colt Devilish Smile, while Modern Slippa unleashed an impressive finishing burst to claim the latter semi as a $2.70 favourite.
That trio shape as the horses to beat in next Friday night’s $100,000 Group 1 final at Tabcorp Park.