Iconic horses come to town

by Kyle Galley

Two iconic trotting horses will make a special public appearance at the Warragul Cup race meeting on Monday, June 8.

The pair, Just Believe and Sundons Gift, are the only two standardbred horses in residence at the well known Living Legends property at Greenvale, north of Melbourne.
Warragul Harness Racing Club officials have negotiated for the two horses to parade at Logan Park during the Cup day race meet, and the visit will especially stir the memory bank of local trots enthusiasts, given that Just Believe has a strong link to West Gippsland.
The horse was originally trained at Iona by Michael Hughes for a syndicate of owners which included a number of local enthusiasts.
When Michael chose to scale back his hands on involvement in trotting, he recommended to the owners that the horse be transferred to the Larajay Farm stables of Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars at Myrniong.
The early ground work done by Hughes (Just Believe ran third in an InterDominion Grand Final for him among 20 placings from 41 starts), stood the trotter in good stead once he resumed in new surroundings in the spring of 2022.
Just Believe hit the ground running with wins in the Shepparton and Kilmore Cups, and by his retirement in late 2024 had cemented himself as one of the iconic horses of the modern era.
As well as success in successive InterDominion Grand Finals, and multiple feature races in Victoria, Just Believe also competed in Europe and New Zealand against an elite group of trotters, all the while with local owners experiencing the ride of their lives with their champion horse.
No doubt several of those owners will reunite with Just Believe on Warragul Cup day.
Also attending the Cup meeting is Sundons Gift, aged 24 and a winner of 41 races, including dual InterDominion titles, and Group One success in Melbourne, Sydney, and New Zealand.
He was trained and driven in his racetrack career by Chris Lang, who was born at Warragul.
Living Legends attendants will accompany the horses to Warragul on the day and are delighted with the opportunity to bring two of their champion horses here for a public appearance.
Living Legends has been operating for 20 years and allows the public the opportunity to engage with some of the household names of racing, who are cared for post retirement at their property.
The award winning facility forms part of the 700 hectare Woodlands Historic Park precinct near Melbourne Airport.