HE'S the clearance sale horse who became the winner of a Bathurst Harness Racing Club feature.
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On Wednesday night Keayang Kreuzer produced a show of strength down the home straight at the Bathurst Paceway to clinch the honours in the annual Star Trek Final (1,730 metres) for Gemma Hewitt.
The Georges Plains trainer-driver admitted she thought her four-year-old might be run down when she realised it was Amanda Turnbull's short-priced favourite Bundoran ($1.65) looming on the outside, but he kicked back.
"It was awesome, when I seen one come up outside me and seen it was Amanda, I thought 'Oh no, this is probably going to be race over'. I know she thinks a lot of her horse," Hewitt said.
"But to my horse's credit, he fought on. He ran a quick quarter down the back and up the home straight he had it covered, it was a nice duel.
"It was windy down the back too, it's actually quite strong out there when you're out in front."
The win, which was by a metre in a 1:56.1 mile rate, was the first for Keayang Kreuzer since joining Hewitt's team late last year.
The Somebeachsomewhere x Inasafeplace gelding was formerly trained by Margaret Lee in Victoria. He had saluted in one of his nine starts for her.
But Keayang Kreuzer was then put up for sale and it was around the time owner Wayne Loader was on the hunt for a new horse.
"When he rang me up, I was on holiday at the time but Wayne told me they were having a clearance sale online. He told me he was after an Australian horse that's a little bit lower in grade to target the three feature races here and the regional championships," Hewitt said.
"There were about nine or 10 of them, so I went through the list and did a bit of research and said that was my favourite one.
"He still had a nice price tag, he was the dearest one, but they were making way for a lot of new stock. They were moving him on."
The first of the feature races Keayang Kreuzer was aimed at was the Soldiers Saddle. He ran a solid third in his heat to qualify for the final.
However, the Soldiers Saddle decider did not play out as Hewitt had hoped. Firstly Keayang Kreuzer caused a false start, then when waiting for the second go-around, reared up again.
His front legs buckled and he walked backwards into the ditch alongside the track, very nearly tipping Hewitt from the gig. Fortunately neither horse nor trainer-driver hit the ground, but Keayang Kreuzer was scratched.
"He was in Boxing Night and got disqualified. I was just cranky, but everyone was saying 'You're lucky you didn't get tipped out'," Hewitt said.
The next item on the hit list for Keayang Kreuzer was the Star Trek Series - one Hewitt's father Bernie Hewitt won in 2009 aboard Cheri Cullen and her uncle David Hewitt took out in 2001 with Vicario.
He placed third in his heat behind two Turnbull runners - Allset and Wattlebank Lass - to earn a spot in the final, starting as a $9.50 chance.
Though initially crossed by Blaze Edition in the final, Keayang Kreuzer kicked through to take the lead.
As the bell sounded Turnbull set off on a three-wide move with Bundoran, who had been an impressive heat winner seven days earlier, and it was not long before the favourite eye-balled Hewitt's chance.
Bundoran stuck his head in front at the 650m mark, but Keayang Kreuzer responded by clocking a 27.7 seconds third sectional as the two leaders gapped the rest of the field by some seven metres.
They were side-by-side at the top of the straight, but Keayang Kreuzer mustered a kick and was first past the post.
"We'll probably target the honouree [stakes] next at the Gold Crown and he'll hopefully be one we have in the regional championships, the $100,000 one," Hewitt said.
