When New Zealand-bred pacers Mighty Santana and Hesa Kingslayer arrived in Mike Deters’ stable this summer, the former fit the mold of a typical Deters trainee: a great big, strapping, good-looking horse. Then there was the latter. Take a walk through Deters stable and he might stand out to you.
“Hesa Kingslayer is quite well-built, but not very big,” Deters said. “I was actually kind of nervous about it. I said, ‘oh boy, we could be in trouble here.’”
By Christian Cullen out of the Bettors Delight mare Millwood Manhattan, Hesa Kingslayer raced for the first time as a four-year-old, finishing third in a NZ$10,700 maiden for Greg and Nina Hope at the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club on May 4, 2018. Hesa Kingslayer then won two straight races Timaru and Invcargill. He won his first Metro race on Aug. 17, 2018, but never rose to the free-for-all ranks in New Zealand.