Frenetic start to Busselton Trotting Club season on Boxing Day

Spectators flocked to Churchill Park for the opening meeting of the 2022-23 Busselton Trotting Club season — and were rewarded with a series of thrilling finishes.

A quaint venue which holds meetings between Boxing Day and late-January each year, city holidaymakers often attend on Boxing Day as a way to kick off their summer holiday festivities.

Leading the way was Linda Hamilton’s mare Absolute Delight, who scored by a short half-head over Mega Mach in the Callows Corner News Conditioned SS Pace (2400m), while Foveaux Major — who was a mere head behind the victor — ran third.

Absolute Delight, who sat in third behind race leader Foveaux Major at the bell, laboured hard as the field headed into the back straight, with reinsman Trent Wheeler unable to find a clear run for her.

Heading into the home straight, Foveaux Major crossed over to the pegs, with Capel gelding Mega Mach appearing certain to give the leader something to think about as he wound up from his three-wide path on the outside.

However the crossing manoeuvre from the race leader gave Wheeler a spilt-second to move into the centre of the track — and this was all the mare needed to thread through the smallest of gaps and pip her rivals at the winning post.

The Boxing Day victory for Hamilton’s five-year-old was her first since January 29 in Northam, although her recent form at metro and regional tracks has been solid.

Another trainer to bask in the thrill of a gripping win was Matthew Scott, after his mare I Am Pink outlasted Jill Mach by a neck in the Chaff City Conditioned SS Pace (2030m).

Despite leading with the mare from the outset, driver Shannon Suvaljko was forced to dig deep in the closing seconds on the pegs, as a fast-finishing Jill Mach threatened to steal her all-the-way triumph.

Fortunately for Suvaljko, Scott’s fancy was able to kick home, which ensured her first win since April.

Pacing action returns to Churchill Park on New Year’s Day, with Bunbury holding their traditional festive season meeting on January 3.