Star pacer Colt Thirty One closing in on historic milestone

By Jordan Gerrans

To reach the magical $1 million milestone in prize money, leviathan owner Kevin Seymour understands just how significant that is in the history of Queensland harness racing for star pacer Colt Thirty One.

The Grant Dixon-trained three-time TAB Queensland Harness Horse of the Year gets his chance to tick over $1 million on Saturday evening in the Group 2 Redcliffe Cup at The Triangle.

When the winner of 46 races from 81 starts does exceed the mark, he will join champions of the sport in Blacks A Fake and Fleur De Lil as Queenslanders to get there in recent years – making it rare air in the pacing world.

Colt Thirty One will be the first from the Sunshine State to record the milestone since Blacks A Fake and Fleur De Lil retired in 2011.

He is currently on $989,431 across his career, needing to run top two to smash through the barrier on Saturday evening.

It is fitting that Colt Thirty One is a Group 1 TAB Blacks A Fake winner earlier in his career, having captured the 2019 edition and fought on bravely to finish second last year.

Long-time harness racing supporter Seymour has savoured the journey of his star pacer.

“He is the first horse that we have ever bred that has won $1 million or thereabouts and hopefully we can pass that mark shortly,” Seymour said.

“His future is as a racehorse but on the completion of his racing, he will go on to be a sire in Queensland.

“He had a big future ahead of him, he is beautifully bred – out of one of the best broodmares in Queensland – and a long line of top pacers, he should make a good sire at the same time.”

While the son of Mach Three has done much of his winning in the Sunshine State, he also claimed the Victoria Derby at Melton's Tabcorp Park in early 2018, showing that he can also compete on the big stage of harness racing in Australia.

There is one distinct difference between Blacks A Fake and Colt Thirty One however, with a massive future already planned for the record-breaker once his career wraps up.

And it could be even before his final race that Colt Thirty One’s progeny begin their journey to the racetrack.

“He is in quite illustrious company when we are talking about Blacks A Fake but the interesting thing will be that while Colt Thirty One has been a leading racehorse in Queensland, he will also go into the siring barn as the first Queenslander to convert from racing to siring that has been bred here,” Seymour said.

“As we know, Blacks A Fake was a gelding.

“So many people are already asking me when Colt Thirty One is going to stud, everyone is looking forward to getting a little Colt Thirty One yearling.

“We will probably put him to stud next year during the off-season while continuing to race him through the rest of the season.”

For experienced trainer-driver Dixon, Saturday night’s Group 2 Redcliffe Cup is a steppingstone for higher honours later in the carnival.

“He seems to have come back well, although he never works the place down at home, so it’s a bit hard to tell until we get him to the races,” Dixon told News Corp.

“He’s getting a bit older now, so he’ll improve on whatever he does this week and he’ll need to…the depth will be very strong in those big races over the next month or so.”

Following the Redcliffe Cup, Dixon and Seymour will consider heading towards the Listed Wondais Mate seven days later at Albion Park before likely tilts at the $100,000 Group 1 Sunshine Sprint on July 17 and the $250,000 TAB Blacks A Fake.

Seymour, who has owned countless quality pacers over the years, believes his current stable star has drawn fans into harness racing in Queensland.

“He is a horse since day one, in his two and three-year-old seasons, he has proved to be up with the best,” he said.

“He has captured the imagination of the Queensland public; everyone now knows who Colt Thirty One is and he has got quite a following here in Queensland.

“Grant and his team, they love the horse and they are looking forward to taking him down south for the feature races later this year, like the Inter Dominion.

“Providing nothing goes wrong between now and then, he should prove to be a worthwhile contender.”

As the TAB Queensland Constellations carnival heads to The Triangle this Saturday, the meeting will be headlined by the Group 1 Garrards Yearling Sale Series for two-year-old pacers while the Redcliffe Derby will also be run, with a top field assembled for the race.