The Majestic Son gelding had been toiling away through his 2-yr-old career without much luck, picking up two thirds over his 14 starts before Clark adopted new tactics at Forbury Park last night in the 0-1 win trot.
Mr Majestic had never led before in a race, but Clark changed that as he sent the gelding to the lead and asked the rest to chase him.
‘‘He can follow speed pretty well, and he lacks a bit of high speed,'' Clark said.
‘‘But he's a tough horse, which is why I tried to take the sprint out of the others.''
Mr Majestic is the second foal - and first winner - out of Clark's smart juvenile trotter, Constar, who won six races as a 2-yr-old.
‘‘I had a Sundon out of her called Bandolier, but he had a hock problem.
‘‘So when I got him race fit, it always showed up. He raced a couple of times but was never good enough.''
Clark is very excited about the next foal, a Sundon yearling colt. ‘‘He's the best looking foal she has left. He's beautifully gaited and he'll win races.
‘‘Whether he's a really good 2-yr-old, I don't know.''
As for Mr Majestic, Clark had to match the gelding's mental tools with the physical talents during his season.
‘‘He's been a horse that's taken all season to get his head right.
‘‘I thought he'd win at Oamaru last week because he had been working well up until then [but] he galloped away and ran home well.''
Mr Majestic will return next season as a maiden, thanks to the 2-yr-old concessions.
Constar also has a CR Commando weanling filly and is in foal to The Pres.
‘‘She'll leave me a really good one, one day. She had phenomenal speed, more speed than [The Fiery] Ginga's got.''
Williamson trifecta
The Williamson brothers - Nathan, Matthew and Brad - drove the trifecta in the 3yrold and older 1win mobile pace. Eldest brother Nathan drove Chers Bettor Babe to win, middle brother Matthew got Elbeau home for second ahead of Brad, on Billy The Bus, in third.
Their father, Phil, confirmed the trio had driven a trifecta at Oamaru in June 2012 when Sunrise Delight (Nathan) beat home Bet's Best (Brad) and Dusky Wishes (Mathew).
Lucrative week
Waimate trainer Josh Kennett's week was successful without having to do much work at all.
Kennett claimed Montecrengle for $5000 off Westwood Beach trainers Graeme Anderson and Amber Hoffman after Anderson's driving win at Oamaru on Sunday.
But the Christian Cullen 6yrold was claimed for $8000 after winning last night by Tony Gow, of Mosgiel, and will be trained by Anderson and Hoffman again.
With the $3000 profit from the sale, and the $3250 winning stake, Kennett turned a profit of $6250 in five days - and he did not have to work the horse either, leaving that to his father, Craig.
‘‘We only jogged it a couple of times, and I was at work, so Dad did it.''
Relegated from first
Jaccka Opie was relegated from first to fourth in the 1-3 win handicap pace after he was deemed to have shifted out in the home straight.
Rock Of Tara's driver, Matthew Williamson, told the Judicial Control Authority he was forced to stop driving out his horse in the last 20m before the line.
Rock Of Tara finished a neck from Mackenzie Jacob in third, with just over half a length covering first to fourth.
Elusive Flight was promoted to first.
