It was serious business at Winton yesterday for Monty Python.
The 3yr-old gelding had the ace draw in barrier 1 for the 2400m mobile trot, and driver Brad Williamson pushed the son of Pegasus Spur forward to take the lead. The gelding was never headed as other trotters made mistakes, winning by six lengths for Brad's father, Oamaru trainer Phil Williamson, in 3.03.7.
He had made a big impression on debut at Gore in December, after galloping away and making up a stack of ground to run fifth. He ran second behind stablemate Pyramid Monarch at Oamaru on January 20 before finishing fifth at Motukarara on February 15 after having to make a sustained run down the straight.
Monty Python is raced by David Beckingsale, of Christchurch, and the Griffins Syndicate, which includes members from ''one end of the country to the other'', syndicate manager Neil Bennett said.
The syndicate has shares in eight trotters, several of which were sourced through Beckingsale, a friend of Bevan Grice, the gelding's breeder.
Monty Python's dam, Juliana, is a full sister to 2009 dual trotting derby winner Ima Gold Digger, Jo Anne (12 wins) and dual group 1 winner Dependable.
''Once [David] got the door open, it's been a tremendous ride since then,'' Bennett said.
''The Grices are great to deal with.''
The Griffins Syndicate is made up of 30 shares, with 38 people involved in those 30 shares.
Other trotters to have raced for the Griffins Syndicate include Sol Invictus (one win), Sarah Palin (one win), and Sovereignty's half-sister Shutterup (one win) who is now in foal to Monarchy. Another sister to Shutterup and Sovereignty, Under The Desk, is a yearling filly by The Pres co-leased by the syndicate late last year.
Bennett said the syndicate has also picked up Sundon's Niece, a yearling filly by Monarchy out of Sungait Reb who is a half-sister to Sundon.
Christchurch trainer Neil Edge collected two wins yesterday when The Doctor and Delightful Song won their respective assignments.
The Doctor had been tried by trainers Tony Stratford and Jason Lethaby before joining Edge's stable in late 2011. Her last victory before yesterday's success was at Motukarara in January last year.
Delightful Song had not come home at the head of the field since March 2011 when trained by Graeme Rogerson. However, the Bettor's Delight mare had not looked far away from a win with a third at Cromwell on January 6 and a fourth at Ascot Park on January 17.
