By Adam Hamilton
Top Aussie trainer Jess Tubbs is looking forward to unexpectedly early return to New Zealand.
It will be an emotional return for Tubbs, who will do it alone this year, instead of sharing the load with her husband Greg Sugars, who tragically died in his sleep in April.
Together they had one of their biggest thrills in the game when former champion trotter Just Believe won the Group 1 Dominion at Addington last November.
They campaigned former Auckland Cup winner Better Eclipse and then three-year-old Hes From Heaven in NZ at the same time.
Hes From Heaven finished fifth in the inaugural $500,000 Velocity slot race at Addington on November 15.
“I didn’t think I’d be going back so soon, but along comes Tracy The Jet and changed all that,” Tubbs said.
Tracy The Jet is a three-year-old trotting filly with 10 starts netting five wins and a second. She will be a starter in the Majestic Horsefloats ASCENT at Addington Raceway on Show day, November 14 along with fellow Aussie trotter Gatesys Gem.
The $500,000 slot race has attracted a capacity 10 slot-holders, as has the pacing equivalent THE VELOCITY.
Tracy The Jet won her first two starts of 2025 before a terrific second to Gatesys Gem in the Group 1 NSW Trotters’ Oaks at Menangle on May 10.
She’s since won all three starts back at Melton, including feature victories in The Holmfield (August 16) and last Saturday’s $125,000 Nutrien Sales final.
She’s gone to a new level and packs lethal early gate speed.
“(Owner) Dom (Martello) was keen to tackle NZ and bought a slot in the Ascent for her to run in, so that’s the target,” Tubbs said.
“Races like this don’t come along too often, so we’ve got to have a shot at it.”
It means sacrificing a tilt at Tracy The Jet’s another obvious big Aussie target, the Vicbred series at Melton.
“The Vicbred heat is on the same day as The Ascent, so it’s out,” Tubbs said. “The Vicbred final is only worth $60,000, so it’s worth changing course.”
Gatesys Gem, who beat Tracy The Jet in the NSW Oaks and then upstaged the boys in the Group 1 NSW Trotters’ Derby, has been secured in THE ASCENT by Aussie trotting giant Duncan McPherson of Aldebaran Park and Yabby Dams’ Pat Driscoll.
Gatesys Gem hasn’t raced since that May 17 win in the NSW Derby. She boasts eight wins and three seconds from just 12 starts.
The daughter of Aldebaran Eagle looked sharp winning a Geelong trial last Monday night, beating other high-class three-year-olds Watts Up The Hill and Commodus.
Tracy The Jet and Gatesys Gem have big hoofprints to follow after the freakish Victorian Keayang Zahara thrashed her Kiwi rivals in last year’s inaugural Ascent.
