By Adam Hamilton
There isn’t much champion driver Chris Alford has not achieved, so it takes something a bit special to get him really excited these days.
Take last Saturday week when he drove his favourite, Lennytheshark, to win an epic battle against Tiger Tara and company in the Bulli Cup at Menangle. That gave him a tingle down his spine.
Alford admitted he got “a real buzz” a couple of months back when John Green rang and asked if he would drive The Orange Agent when she campaigned in Melbourne.
“Now that was a great call to get,” Alford said. “I’ve known John for ages, but to get the call-up to drive a wonderful mare like this one was a real buzz.
“I’ve actually been counting down until she got across her.”
It was worth the wait.
The Orange Agent scored one of the most dominant wins of her stellar career in last night’s $30,000 Group 3 Make Mine Cullen (1720m) at Melton.
Knowing his was on the best mare in the race, Alford – as he does better than anyone else – drove with extreme aggression and confidence.
He just kept pushing forward from gate six, eventually working past Bettor Downunder on his direct inside and taking the lead from another Kiwi mare Rocker Band, after 400m.
The Orange Agent had her rivals cooked on the home bend as Alford slipped away with a commanding lead and let her cruise to the wire to score by 6.4m from Rocker Band with in-form local Milly Perez run another big race for third.
But this was The Orange Agent’s show and it reinforced why she is the one to beat in Victoria’s next two big mares’ races over the next two weeks – the Angelique Club Cup and Group 1 Queen Of The Pacific.
It’s hard to see any of the locals beating her, so the only danger looks to be another classy Kiwi, Golden Goddess, who she will lock horns with next week.
The Orange Agent’s win came at her first Melton run since winning the Breeders Crown 3YO fillies’ final back in August 2015. She’s unbeaten in three runs at the track.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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