By Adam Hamilton
13 July 2015
The “Birchip Boys” are fast-becoming some of the most popular people in harness racing.
Thanks for their superstar three-year-old Menin Gate and much-improved filly Morton Plains, the boys are living the dream and eager to share it with others.
That sharing mentality was right to the fore again when Menin Gate blitzed his rivals in last night’s Group 3 Gold Coast Derby at Albion Park.
The Birchip boys guaranteed to support the cause of the night – breast cancer – $2000 win, lose or draw in the Derby.
“We lost a close friend to breast cancer recently. It’s close to our hearts and we wanted to support the night. We all made sure we wore some pink as well,” said Danny Lowry, one of Menin Gate’s part-owners.
Just a week earlier the “Birchip Boys” threw $1000 on the bar of their home town AFL footy club after Menin Gate and Morton Plains won their Group 1 Vicbred finals.
“We’re having the most amazing ride and we can share it with others, then why not,” Lowry said.
Mail is the $1000 was spent in an hour, the locals kept drinking for another couple of hours and Lowry and his fellow owners happily stumped-up for the bill.
You can imagine how popular the guys are in their hometown given Birchip’s population is less than 800. It’s a four-hour drive north-west of Melbourne in sheep farming country.
In a fascinating twist, it’s also where Australia’s main harness media man, Gareth Hall, was born. Fair to say he’s loving every step of the “Birchip Boys” ride.
Menin Gate’s wins in the Victoria Derby, Vicbred final and now Gold Coast Derby have firmly stamped him as second to only Have Faith In Me in the Australasian three-year-old pecking order.
He can bridge the gap further by winning next Saturday night’s Group 1 Queensland Derby.
Menin Gate waltzed to the front last night from gate two, dawdled through a 38.8sec lead time and always looked in control from there.
Driver Chris Alford cruised through a 59.5sec middle half then ripped home in 54.7 and 27.3sec to win by almost seven metres in a 1min55.1sec mile rate for 2138m.
NSW visitor Spare Me Days weaved through traffic and flew late for second, while My Kiwi Mate ran a mighty third after sustaining a three-wide run without cover for the last lap.
Hug The Wind enjoyed the one-one trail, found some traffic issues on the final bend, but just worked home fairly for fourth when he saw daylight.
Last week’s Group 1 Nursery Flying winner Burnaholeinmypocket did the work outside the leader, lost his rhythm on the final bend, and weakened late for a disappointing seventh.
An hour after the Derby, Morton Plains did the Birchip Boys proud with a bold, but well-beaten second to the Rasmussen/Purdon star Fight For Glory in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks.
Fight For Glory finished a huge season with yet another major win and looks certain to be crowed Australian 3YO Filly of the Year.
As well as the NZ Oaks. Fight For Glory has also won the NSW, Gold Coast and now Queensland Oaks.
The race panned out perfectly for Fight For Glory when Shane Tritton’s outsider Miss Riviera Belle speared to the front and surprisingly wanted to hold-out the heavily-backed Linda Lovegrace.
That left Linda Lovegrace parked and, when Bart Cockburn stunned everyone by pulling three-wide in the middle stages on Bettor Promise, Fight For Glory grabbed that filly’s spot in the one-one.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better run, especially when I was able to get onto Linda Lovegrace’s back. I always thought I’d win from there,” Rasmussen said.
Fight For Glory won easily from Morton Plains with NSW filly Amaretto finishing third in a 1min56.2sec mile rate for 2138m.
WHAT most thought would be an easy win for Bling It On in the Group 2 4&5YO Championship turned into a nightmare.
The budding superstar basically imploded.
Driver Luke McCarthy surged him out of gate two to lead and punters who took the $1.50 were feeling good … it all changed 600m later.
Bling It On started to fire-up and got to a stage with a lap to go when McCarthy was laying horizontal back in the bike trying to restrain him.
The four-year-old was gone on the bend and dropped out to 16m.
The frantic pace set it up for the swoopers and it was $52.10 outsider Chevals Clivesdale who stormed home to win for trainer Shannon Price and driver Brad Cowen in a 1min55sec mile rate for 2138m.
McCarthy had another disappointment in the following race when former Victoria Cup winner For A Reason finished a lacklustre third in a moderate free-for-all.
His four runs this campaign have been miles best his best, raising doubts whether For A Reason’s days as a genuine Grand Circuit player are behind him.
Cowen and Price capped a great night by winning the free-for-all with Christian Cullen seven-year-old Caesars Folly.
FIGHT For Glory wasn’t Nat Rasmussen’s only triumph on the night.
She also picked-up the drive on one of Australia’s best mares, Forever Gold, and scored an all-the-way win in the Group 2 Ladyship Stakes.
And Rasmussen won the “theme” race of the night as well when she drove Corey ODonohue to win the Pink Pants Drivers Ladies Invitational Drivers pace.
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