A massive crowd last Saturday night converged on Moonee Valley to give the now former home of Victorian harness racing an appropriate send-off.
More than 15,000 people attended the final meeting ever run at the venue that first hosted harness racing on October 30, 1976 and were treated to one of the best night’s racing the track has seen in years.
Kiwi raider Bondy joined the greats of Australasian harness racing when he led all of the way to win the night’s feature event, the $400,000 Group 1 BIG6 Hunter Cup.
Sundons Gift became only the second horse to win Australasian trotting’s premier series in consecutive years when he took out the $250,000 Group 1 SEW-Eurodrive Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Final.
Courage To Rule played his part in a stellar night for the Kiwis when he joined the honour roll of Australia’s oldest pacing classic with an upset win in the $200,000 Group 1 Alabar Victoria Derby.
Harness Racing Victoria chief executive John Anderson said the night exceeded all expectations. “We couldn’t have said goodbye to Moonee Valley in any better fashion than what we did tonight,” a proud Anderson said.
“We got what we believe to be the biggest crowd in more than a decade and those that did attend really got behind what was a sensational night’s racing.
“Moonee Valley occupies a special place in the history of Australian harness racing and I think we gave it the send-off it deserves.”
The Jenny Johnson-trained Strident etched his name into the record books with victory in the BIG6 Country Clubs Championship Final – the final harness meeting ever run at the Moonee Pond circuit. (Refer special story penned on the
www.brisbaneracing.com.au website.
Fittingly, he was steered by the man who won more races than any other at Moonee Valley, champion Melton reinsman Gavin Lang. Strident’s win was Lang’s 1029th at the track.
Tabcorp Park at Melton is now the home of Victorian harness racing and will host HRV’s next major carnival, the Tabcorp Australasian Breeders Crown, which culminates in August.
BONDY BOWLS ‘EM OVER
By Jason Bonnington
The plundering of Australia’s greatest races by our Kiwi cousins continued at Moonee Valley’s farewell meeting last Saturday night when Bondy led all the way to take out the $400,000 BIG6 Hunter Cup.
Having watched both the Miracle Mile and SEW-Eurodrive Victoria Cup titles disappear across the ditch in recent months, punters were understandably wary of the old adage about things happening in threes. And they were right.
Backed from $5.50 into $4 on-course in the 3065-metre feature on the basis of his peerless standing start record and dominant victory in last week’s Sky Racing Pure Steel, Bondy didn’t let punters down.
“He did run a really good race at Ballarat and won really well and I was hoping that run last week would improve him but you just never know,” trainer-driver David Butt said. “It obviously did improve him a bit more because he’s gone even better tonight. It’s great.”
After stepping best of the front-line runners even though he played up at the start, Butt’s son of Live Or Die was on top after less than 200 metres and from there he was always shaped as the most difficult to beat.
Running through a moderate lead time of 1:55, the eight-year-old gelding was able to gradually increase the tempo over the last mile recording splits of 30.6, 29.1 and 28.5 before exploding away from his rivals entering the straight in a final section of 28.5 to complete a 2:01.7 mile rate.
“I thought I was a big chance if I jumped first,” Butt said. “He always plays up a bit but he normally begins well. As long as he faces the right way he gets away quite good.
That pressure came first from Victoria Cup winner Bettors Strike before a three-wide assault from noted stayer Smoken Up transformed the race into a genuine contest for the first time. But it was not to last.
“He did cop a bit of pressure so I was a little bit worried, but then they backed off,” Butt said. “Lance came out with a round to go and I thought I might be in a bit of trouble, but he kept going. I was just a bit worried about someone coming out of the pack but no one seemed to.”
When Bondy kicked into high gear 200m out, the only legitimate challenge came from Karloo Mick ($9.40) who – after racing behind Bondy throughout – chased valiantly when extricated but failed by 2.9 metres.
Gun Western Australian, Im Themightyquinn ($6.60), was the hard-luck story of the race, flashing home to grab third, just 1.7m behind Karloo Mick, after coming from five-back the pegs turning for home.
TROT FINAL ANOTHER GIFT
By Brad Bishop
Sundons Gift secured his place among the pantheon of Australasian trotting greats with SEW-Eurodrive Inter Dominion Trotting Championship success last Saturday night at Moonee Valley.
The Chris Lang-trained-and-driven champion became the first Australian-trained horse to win Australasia’s premier trotting series two years in a row when he led every step of the $250,000 Group 1 final.
Lang was thrilled to see the star of his Nagambie stable join legendary Kiwi mare Pride Of Petite (1996/97) as the only back-to-back winners of the series that was first run in 1948.
Scotch Notch (1983, 1985) and Take A Moment (2001, 2003) are the only others to have won multiple Inter Dominion trotting finals.
“I don’t think you can get a better feeling than this,” Lang, who has now won three-straight Inter Dominion titles thanks to Galleons Sunset’s win in 2008, said after the race.
“This horse has been fantastic for me and to go back-to-back in the Inter Dominion makes it a very special win.”
Those who backed the Sundon eight-year-old into $1.60 favouritism never had any real cause for concern.
Lang speared straight to the front from barrier one and dictated the pace of the 2575-metre decider.
After a 73.6-second lead time he zipped through the first quarter in 29.7 seconds, before backing off to 31.8 secs for the second split.
Lang increased the tempo to 28.9 secs for the third split, but had plenty up his sleeve and cruised home the last 400m in 29.7 secs for a comfortable 2:01 mile rate win.
At the line he had 9.5 metres to spare over Queensland surprise packet Kasyanov ($147), who enjoyed the gun sit behind the favourite, with the winner’s stablemate Skyvalley ($5.50) four metres back in third.
“There’s always a danger when he’s got to be on his toes like that, but once he led like he did he was always going to be difficult to beat.”
Last Saturday night’s win was Sundons Gift’s 29th of his 57-start career and the $142,500 first prize lifted his earnings to $789,673.
COURAGE RULES IN DERBY
By Jason Bonnington
Eleven years after his incomparable sire, Courage Under Fire, took out the same race, outstanding New Zealand stayer Courage To Rule staged a mini coup last Saturday night by winning the $200,000 Alabar Victoria Derby.
In a race of constant movement, three horses – For A Reason, Lanercost and Lincoln Royal – all found the front at some stage, but it was the withering late burst from the Greg Bennett-driven Courage To Rule that decided the race.
“It’s a special feeling,” Bennett said immediately after the race. “It’s a very hard race to win and Dad’s got a share in the horse so it was pretty exciting.”
After becoming engaged in the battle for early ascendancy from his awkward gate six draw, Courage To Rule settled into a comfortable position in the running line through the middle stages.
The genuine early tempo yielded a lead time of 1:11.7 before the leaders backed off to complete a first half of the last mile in 62.7, during which Lanercost and Lincoln Royal made sweeping runs to take control of affairs.
That moderate mid-race tempo paved the way for a sizzling back straight sectional of 27.7 seconds before Courage To Rule descended on the two leaders in a final split of 28.1 secs for a cracking 1:58.8 mile rate.
“They went hard down the back and dropped him at the corner but the 2500 metres was right up his alley. He relished it.” Bennett said of his charge's effort in the final stages.
“I was pretty happy to see the line come up, but he ended up winning by a length, so it was good.”
At the conclusion of the 2575-metre Classic, Courage To Rule ($11) had 1.5 metres to spare from countryman Lincoln Royal ($5.20) in a dream result for the Kiwis with top Queensland colt Lanercost ($10) a further 1.2 metres astern in third.
Favourite Major Bronski ($4.10) was far from disgraced in fourth, having endured a tough run in the death chair for the majority of the event and only wilting late.
KID DOES IT AGAIN
By Brad Bishop
Cincinnati Kid’s late-career resurgence continued last Saturday night when the consistent eight-year-old took out the Sky Racing Free-For-All at Moonee Valley.
The under-rated son of In The Pocket added the $25,000 event to the Group 1 PETstock Ballarat Cup he won seven nights earlier when he finished over the top of his rivals in the 2100-metre event.
Mark Peace’s stable star cashed in on a frantic tempo set by early leader Mister Grizzly and then Karlsruhe to sweep to a resounding 4.7-metre victory over Karlsruhe and $1.70 favourite Sammy Maguire in a 1:56.2 mile rate.
The final quarter was only 29.4 seconds, but the first and third quarters were 28.3 and 28.7 seconds respectively, which laid the foundations for the slick time, which was just eight-tenths of a second outside the track record.
Cincinnati Kid’s win was one of the many highlights of the cracking support card at the final harness meeting ever run at Moonee Valley.
Earlier in the night Victoria’s most consistent two and three-year-old of the past two seasons, Living On Fire, proved he has lost nothing as a four-year-old with a win in the $30,000 PETstock Four-Year-Old Bonanza.
Like Cincinnati Kid, the Bill Galea-trained warrior proved the bane of odds-on punters when he was too strong for Village Of Dreams and $1.60 favourite Mister Zion in the star-studded Group 3.
The tough gelding sat parked for the last lap, but still ground home the final 800m in 28.9 and 27.9-second splits for a 1:57.5 win.
Two races later, in the $20,000 Angelique Club Cup, well-backed favourite Mendelico kicked the BIG6 off in fine style for punters, winning arguably the most exciting race of the night.
After a flying lead time of 34.1 seconds, in which Lady Octavia and Very Chic sparred vigorously for early ascendancy, the speed never relented with big guns Broadway Play, Pacific Charm and Mendelico making their moves heading past the winning post the final time.
Ripping through the first half of the last mile in 60.7, Mendelico circled the field before booting clear on the home turn to hold off the fast-finishing Jazzam by a short head in a 57.6-second last half mile for a 1:56.8 mile rate.
Later, Cullen Bromac gave Debbie Quinlan a farewell victory when she outclassed her rivals in the $20,000 Swifts Signs Premiere Stakes.
The son of Christian Cullen, who realised $150,000 at last year’s Auckland yearling sale, sat parked for most of the 1609-metre event but was still able to pull away from her rivals towards the end of 28.7-second final split in a 1:59.3 mile rate.
