CLASS prevailed as McLovin added the 2021 Group 3 Charlton Trotters Cup to his impressive list of feature race wins for Kate and Andy Gath.
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The eight-year-old gelding showed plenty of his trademark toughness and courage to stave off a spirited challenge from a rejuvenated Sparkling Success, with the Kate Hargreaves-trained Well Defined running a mighty race for third.
The Gaths would first have to sweat on the outcome of a protest lodged by Jackie Barker, the driver of Sparkling Success, but it was eventually dismissed.
Kate Gath said she was always confident the protest would be dismissed.
"I wasn't too worried, there wasn't anything in it," she said.
"It was really good to come here and get the win with him, it all worked out well."
The win was McLovin's first from his last four starts, which followed a purple patch in December and January that culminated in four-straight wins, including the Group 1 Maori Mile at Bendigo and the Group 3 Maori's Idol Trotters Free For All and R.C. Freestone Trotters Free For All, both at Melton.
Gath said the star trotter would likely be sent for a well-earned spell.
"He's been a lovely horse for us and I thought he might win today (Sunday), especially if he led and he was able to get the job done," she said.
"He's been pretty good from the moment we got home from New Zealand.
"He's just so tough and he just doesn't like horses getting past him, so he's a great horse to have in the stable.
"It was a pretty good field today, but there were a few horses that he really dropped off, whether they went their best or not I don't know."
Chasing a fifth-straight country cup win, the Kate Hargreaves-trained Well Defined was always up against it after galloping at the start and quickly finding himself 60-metres behind the field.
But the six-year-old, with Ellen Tormey in the sulky, was able to produce a huge effort and motor home to finish less than 10m from the winner.
Gath came within inches of making it a cups double, narrowly relegated to second in the Group 3 Charlton Pacing Cup on the Emma Stewart-trained Fourbigmen behind his less-fancied stablemate Like A Wildfire, driven by Leigh Sutton.
Fourbigmen was looking to make it back-to-back Charlton Cup wins and earned praise from Gath for a brave performance.
"He just had a faster one on his back and probably did a bit of work out of the gate and that might have told on him a little bit at the finish," she said.
"Unfortunately, the one on his back got him, but he still ran a great race."
A brilliant day for the Charlton training ranks included a winning double for Greg Norman with Cee Cee In America and Fiftyshadesofhay and the first win for the town's newest trainer Shane Sanderson with Dikerry, who was driven by his son Ryan.
The Sanderson family only arrived in Charlton last week.
Norman was unlucky not to make it a treble with Apieceoflou finishing second behind Celestialfragrance in the three-year-old classic.
Other Bendigo region winners were Lord Court for the trainer-driver combination of Hargreaves and Shannon O'Sullivan and Di Li for Carisbrook trainer Brett Shipway.
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