By Adam Hamilton
LENNYTHESHARK is primed for the Miracle Mile.
Denied the chance to race at Menangle, trainer David Aiken took his Inter Dominion champ to the Bendigo Cup where he blitzed a handy field.
Lennytheshark quickly worked to the front from gate five, cruised through a 60.5sec middle half and then left his rivals standing with closing splits of 54.4 and 26.8sec.
As great as Lenny has been winning the Perth Inter Dominion and Victoria Cup, the Miracle Mile is the next step.
It’s by far the strongest field he will have met with Beautide, Have Faith In Me and others.
MIGHTY mare Frith is on the verge of becoming a millionaire and gee doesn’t she deserve it.
The much-travelled champ posted her 37th win from 53 starts and zoomed to $976,344 in earnings with a slick Group 2 Sibelia Stakes win at Menangle on Saturday night.
The race was effectively won at the start when driver Todd McCarthy blasted her out to easily cross favourite Fight For Glory in a comfy 27.7sec lead time when steady for a 29.5sec second split.
It was always going to be a dash home and Frith scorched a 54.8sec last half and 27sec closing quarter to score in a 1min52sec mile.
Nike Franco loomed as a threat along the inside halfway down the straight, but raced a bit roughly and Frith still hit the line well.
Fight For Glory, who probably wasn’t suited by the dash home, ground away solidly for a close third.
“Luke said she’s been flying at home and she was a good thing beaten when I drove her the previous week and she couldn’t see daylight,” Todd McCarthy said.
“She always felt in control tonight. She did it really well.”
Frith’s other “win” of the night came when Arms Of An Angel snared a Miracle Mile berth, meaning she will miss the Group 1 Ladyship Mile run on the same day.
TRAINER John McCarthy’s Chariots Of Fire night deeds were lost in the hysteria of so many highlights.
It was a fantastic effort by McCarthy to qualify two outsiders – Monifieth and Blazin N Cullen – for the Miracle Mile.
And, he snared second in the Chariots with another outsider, Lord Zin Zan.
“We had a great night tonight. It’s really satisfying to get those two through to the Mile and Lord Zin Zan ran a terrific race in the Chariots,” McCarthy said.
Lord Zin Zan’s run was so good he was made first emergency for the Miracle Mile.
Monifieth stormed home from near last to snatch victory from the leader and favourite Bling It On in the last stride in a 1min50.7sec mile in the Group 1 Cordina Sprint.
“He’s a better stayer than sprinter and likes 2300m more than a mile, but when they went hard early, it brought him into the race,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy then took all the inside runs to sneak through late and snatch second to Beautide in the Group 1 Coca-Cola Cup in a 1min50.7sec mile.
GLENFERRIE Typhoon continues to emerge as a major Great Southern Star contender.
The six-year-old posted his seventh win in just 12 starts since joining the Andy and Kate Gath stable when he landed the Group 1 Maori Mile at Bendigo on Saturday night.
It was an explosive and dominant front-running display.
Glenferrie Typhoon posted a 1min54.4sec mile rate for 1650m, which compares very favourably with Flying Isa’s 1min53.5sec Australasian record over a mile at Menangle.
Amazingly, Glenferrie Typhoon posted a 26.3sec opening quarter and still kept going to win by 5.1m.
EMOTIONS run deep with exciting three-year-old Nathans Courage.
He is the pacer named after the late jockey Nathan Berry and part-owned by Nathan’s brother, Tommy.
The gelding showed promise in a handful of runs at two and has returned as a major contender for the Western Australian Derby.
Nathans Courage posted his fifth win from just nine starts when he defied a betting drift to thrash a handy field at Gloucester Park last Friday night.
The son of Courage Under Fire grabbed the front from gate seven and cruised home by 11.7m in a slick 1min55.5sec mile rate for 1720m.
“He’s shown us plenty of ability since day one, but he’s still maturing,” trainer Michael Brennan said.
Another three-year-old to shine at Gloucester Park last Friday was Greg Bond’s filly Dodolicious, who did all the work and dug deep to impressively win the $50,000 Daintys Daughter Classic (2130m).
The daughter of Bettors Delight boasts 14 starts for nine wins, five seconds and is rapidly closing in on $200,000 in stakemoney.
HUNTER Cup winner Arden Rooney is sidelined, but it hasn’t stopped owners Merv and Meg Butterworth snaring feature wins with Kerryn Manning.
Manning recently took over training former classy Purdon/Rasmussen mare Supersonic Miss.
The timing was inspired with the strong Tontine series in full flight.
Supersonic Miss won two heats of the series then smashed the clock winning last Friday night’s $25,575 final in stunning style.
The daughter of Mach Three led, copped midrace pressure, but still cleared away n a 1min56.5sec mile rate to beat another talented former Kiwi pacer Kotare York by 14.3m.
MUCH-TRAVELLED stablemates Sprinter and Ideal Tyson looked primed for their NSW Derby heats on Saturday.
Western Australian trainer Gary Elson took the pair to Victoria for the Derby, but it didn’t end well with Sprinter finishing eighth in the final and Ideal Tyson failing to qualify.
Both are much better than they showed.
Elson moved them to Jimmy Rattray’s stables for a tilt at the NSW Derby and both won impressively at Menangle last Friday.
Sprinter made it 10 wins from just 14 runs when he led, dictated through the middle stages and ripped home in 26.6sec for a 1min54sec mile.
Ideal Tyson, who has been struggling for this best this campaign, landed some big bets when he returned to form a strong win in a 1min54.1sec mile.
There was plenty to like about the way he thundered home from well back in a 56.3sec last half to win pulling away.
While it’s highly unlikely either will trouble Our Waikiki Beach in the Derby final, they are good enough to players for the minor placings.
THERE is no doubt the advent of the 1400m Menangle track has changed the way we look at two-year-old race times.
Hes Bettor (Bettors Delight-Inevitable) caught the eye on debut when a close third to the unbeaten Blue Moon Rising in a 1min54.9sec mile at Menangle on January 30.
Then he went two better to post his first win – and he had to go a 1min54.7sec mile to do it – at the same track last Friday.
The eye-catcher last Friday was well-bred newcomer Weona Sizzler (Bettors Delight-Weona Badgirl), who powered home from well back for a close third.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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