French trotter breaks Aussie maiden

FRENCH-BRED trotter Holzarte Vedaquais broke his Australian maiden this afternoon.

First-up from a long spell, Holzarte Vedaquais upstaged his opposition in Yarra Valley in what was his second Southern Hemisphere start.

The squaregaiter made his Aussie debut in a Victoria Trotters’ Derby heat last October, where he over-raced and broke before finishing at the tail of the field.

Given plenty of time to acclimatise, Holzarte Vedaquais showed a glimpse of his true potential, according to trainer Tim Butt.

“He’s had a couple of trials, but is still short of being fully fit,” Butt said.

“I expected a good run from him, but he was always going to improve on whatever he did today.

“It will take a couple of starts before he is wound up properly.”

Driven by prominent reinsman John Caldow, Holzarte Vedaquais worked to the lead from his 30-metre handicap before completing a six-metre win from No Biggie.

Kyvalley Barney was seven metres away third.

Rating 2:01.4 over 2150 metres, the son of Brillantissime slashed a second-and-a-half from Bd Khaoson’s track record set in September 2019.

“I’m very pleased with his run,” Butt said. “To be in need of the hit-out and run a track record is a pretty good effort.

“There is a Group One in Melton next month I’m aiming him at, which is a standing start, so I want to get a couple more stands into him before then.”