Guntantes earns high praise from jockey
Experienced stakes-winning jockey Dale Smith was quick to compare Guntantes to some of the best two-year-olds he has ridden after the colt won at Doomben.
After being slow to go Guntantes, the $1.70 favourite, went to the lead and coasted home to beat The Odyssey ($9) by 3-3/4 lengths.
Doomben was drenched for 30 minutes before the race which was reflected in Guntantes time of 63.8 seconds which was well outside the class record.
However, Smith couldn’t hide his delight with the win and he was the only jockey to return to scale without a muddy face.
“I have ridden some very good two-year-olds in Melbourne for trainers like Mick Price and this bloke is up with them,” Smith said.
Guntantes gave trainer Robert Heathcote a race-to-race double but he was extremely excited about the win as he bred Guntantes from his mare Cantantes.
“We lost Cantantes in February after a long career at stud but she might have left us something special,” Heathcote said.
“We kept him and didn’t put him through the sales so he can win a few more QTIS races and then we can look at next year.”
“He was very coltish before the race but he will stay that way for the time being.”
Cantantes has been a wonderful horse for Heathcote as she won two races and she has produced nine winners from 10 foals including Group Two winner Funtantes and multiple stakes winner Excellantes.
“Maybe he will be the best. We can only hope,” Heathcote said.