Untapped trotter out to chase some prestige
Matt Markham - Raceform • November 6th, 2025 4:00 PM • 4 min read
With trotting bloodlines that run as deep as his, it should come as no surprise that up-and-coming three-year-old Prestigious is being pointed toward some big targets.
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A further extension of a wonderful breed of trotters developed by Jenny Butt and the late Don McKenzie, the son of Majestic Son has all the right qualities to continue on the family heritage.
Out of the former handy race mare Prestine, who won five races, Prestigious has long been a horse his trainer Jonny Cox has had a lot of time for, and as he develops so does the opinion. “I’ve always liked him, he’s just always had that little bit extra about him,” Cox told RaceForm.
“He’s come a long way since we first took him off the place, and you know with the breed that he’ll just keep getting better as he gets older too.”
Cox has a fair indication of what the family can do – his fiance, Kimberly Butt, trains Prestigious’ brother Master Class and Cox has plenty of hands-on experience with him as well.
“There’s a few similarities about them, but all the breed can trot a bit, so I’m considering myself lucky enough to be able to train one.”
A relative novice to the racing caper, Prestigious has raced just twice. He finished second on debut at Oamaru behind the very talented Axel Rose and then toyed with a good maiden field at Timaru before heading to the paddock.
“We decided then to give him a bit of a break after the win with the idea of having him back up and ready for Cup Week and perhaps a big race not long after that.”
That big race is the New Zealand Trotting Derby, and as long as Prestigious continues to impress he’ll be aimed towards there, starting with a resuming run in a three-year-old only trot at Addington this Friday night. Initially the race looked perfect – only a handful of nominations and a nice even field – but with light numbers the nominations were left open and things changed very quickly. Hambletonian winner Ya Rite Darl emerged in the list for the race, changing Cox’s optimism and confidence immediately. The Diamond Racing-prepared filly smashed the boys and the best of the best in the age group at Ashburton last Monday and is a leading contender for all the remaining three-year-old trotting features.
“That changed things a bit seeing her name there,” Cox said. “But I guess it means we’ll get a real indication of where we are at. We’ve got a lot of ground to make up in terms of race experience on a horse like her, but we’ll know a lot more for sure.”
Cox gave Prestigious a quiet trial at Rangiora last week, where he ran second under a nice hold and that brought him on nicely for this week’s return.
“He was carrying a bit of condition and probably still is, but has improved off it and will be better for a run this week as well.”
While the Derby isn’t locked and loaded, Cox is happy to let Prestigious tell him if he’s ready and good enough to be there with plenty of other opportunities including a potential spot in the Harness 5000 finals at Ashburton in December.
“It’s not the be all and end all, but we’ve got the option there if he does return well.”
Friday night marks the start of a big week for Cox, who will line up Pinseeker in Tuesday’s IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup after a strong fourth at Ashburton last week. “I was happy enough with the run, he’s come through it well and we just have to hope for a bit of luck and a quiet trip and one crack at them.”
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