Heathcote excited by Eagle Farm return

By Glenn Davis

Trainer Rob Heathcote is looking forward to Guntantes’ comeback as well as the return to racing headquarters at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

Heathcote has given his own seal of approval for racing to resume at the track, which last hosted a race meeting on December 18.

Heathcote has nine acceptors on the nine-event card and is keenly awaiting Guntantes’ return.

Guntantes is an acceptor in the Open Handicap over 1200 metres and the Benchmark 68 Handicap over 1400 metres but Heathcote is undecided which race he’ll start in.

Guntantes is looking to snap a two-year drought from the winner’s stall since his last triumph as a three-year-old in December, 2019, at Eagle Farm.

“Guntantes is a very good horse but he’s had a lot of physical and mental issues,” Heathcote said.

“He’s had a trial and won very impressively and on his day he’s capable of winning a big race.”

Now a five-year-old, Guntantes was once rated one of the state’s best three-year-olds after winning five of his first 12 starts before a 13-run losing streak.

A son of Rothesay, Guntantes has not started since finishing fourth to The Lindsay Gough-trained Dr Why Not in a BM90 race at Doomben on New Year’s Day.

Guntantes is from the Just Awesome dam Cantantes who excelled in the breeding barn.

Cantantes was one of the State’s best broodmares, producing the winners of more than 50 races over the past two decades, before passing away a few years ago.

Heathcote has trained just about all of Cantantes’ off spring, including Funtantes, the dam of his rising star Startantes who was narrowly beaten in the Group 1 Surround Stakes at Randwick last month.