KEY POINTS:
Derek Balle pulled off one of the training performances of the season - and then gave the horse to somebody else.
The Pukekohe horseman was left feeling satisfied but slightly hollow after Galleons Sunset's all-the-way win in the A$50,00 Bill Collins Mile at Moonee Valley on Saturday night.
The win was vindication of Balle's faith in the streaky trotter, who most trainers wouldn't have considered worthy of an Australian campaign after he started this season with two unplaced runs at Alexandra Park.
But Balle, who has plenty of experience in Melbourne this decade with his great mare Martina H, knew Galleons Sunset was good enough to make the trip.
So he convinced the owners to take the gamble and then nursed the leggy 6-year-old through a splint bone problem to have him close to his best for Saturday's sprint against the best trotters in Australia.
To top it off he produced a perfect drive to lead, slow up in the middle stages and then outsprint favourite Acacia Ridge.
Balle then accepted the trophy, took Galleons Sunset back to the stables and handed him to new trainer, Chris Lang.
"That was the plan all along, to bring him over here, have a couple of starts and leave him with Chris," said Balle.
"He is better placed over here, with the left-handed tracks and shorter straights.
"With his speed he is very hard to catch at his best, as you saw in this race.
"He is such a good horse you wouldn't leave him with many other trainers but Chris is great at what he does and I know he will look after the horse."
Lang will train Galleons Sunset at least until the Interdominions on March 1, but Balle hopes to get the call-up to drive him.
"Chris has a great team of trotters, including Sundon's Gift, so maybe I can stay on as the driver for a few of the big races.
"But when you train horses you have to do what is best for them and the owners and on this occasion it is leaving the horse here.
" It was a bit strange giving him to somebody else after all the work we have put into him."
It is then likely Galleons Sunset will return home, where Balle thinks he could test the best next season.
"If he comes back maybe next year he will be mature enough to take to Addington for races like the Dominion."
While Galleons Sunset has the measure of most of Australia's leading trotters, one of the reasons he went to Australia is set to stalk him.
Balle admits he wanted to avoid clashing with champion Kiwi trotting mare One Over Kenny, who returned to winning form in devastating fashion at Alexandra Park on Friday night.
"The longer he can stay away from her the better," said Balle.
"After what he has done to them in Australia, One Over Kenny will be far too good for most of their trotters."
The Oamaru mare and a host of other New Zealand trotters, will head to Melbourne next month to prepare for the Interdominions.
While Galleons Sunset flew the New Zealand flag on Saturday night the night's feature, the A$350,000 Victoria Cup, was without a Kiwi rep for the first time in years.
It fell to the injury-plagued Robin Hood, who got up in the shadows on the post to down former Waikato pacer Smoken Up and favourite Sting Lika Bee.
The win came courtesy of a beautiful drive from Gavin Lang, who timed his run to perfection in track record time.
But the race suggested the leading Queensland pacers, headed by Blacks A Fake, have little to fear from the Victorian when the Interdominions start on February 16.
MILES TOO GOOD
* Kiwi trotter Galleons Sunset downs Australia's best in the Bill Collins Mile.
* He will now be trained in Australia for the summer.
* His win vindicated the faith of trainer-driver Derek Balle.
* Robin Hood scores an upset win in the Victoria Cup.
