Grant Dixon with Alleluia’s owners Greg & Sharon Mitchell. Photo by Dan Costello.
Grant Dixon holds a bundle of keys to the Group 3 Chris Garrard Patrons Purse at Redcliffe Paceway on Friday night.
Dixon has a quintet of starters with three of his team starting at the one, two, three positions off the gate. Leading his raid on the Redcliffe feature is Alleluia drawn at gate one and he will drive the star four-year-old himself.
Alleluia finished runner up in last week’s Group 2 4yo Championship at Albion Park won by Sweet Molly O’Shea and the run was a bottler. Bling It On finished third in the race which was clocked in a 1.54.7 rate. This season Alleluia has been in the money 22 times from 26 starts and the son of Art Major has maintained excellent form right through the year, three times putting together a picket fence of consecutive race wins.
Dixon has a strong hand in the Patrons Purse with his battery including Majestic Major which is coming off three excellent performances during the Winter Carnival at Albion Park. Peter Greig will drive Majestic Major (post 2), he was aboard the gelding when he finished third to Cheval Clivesdale in the G2 Four & Five Year-Old Championship at Albion Park two weeks ago. Coming from gate three is Dixon’s smart mare Millwood Liberty a winner of four of her last five starts. Dixon’s wife Trista will drive Millwood Liberty which has the fastest winning mile rate (1.54.9) of Dixon’s inside front line trio.
Drawn out at six is Dixon’s warhorse Majestic Mach (1.54.7). Of the team, Majestic Mach has the best record at Redcliffe winning a Saturday night Open class race at the paceway in May. But that was his only recent win. Majestic Mach, to be driven by Bart Cockburn finished down the track in the Sunshine Sprint and Four & Five Year-Old Championship.
Dixon’s other starter is up and comer Supreme Mach which will be driven by Mark Dux and start off the inside of the second row (behind stablemate Alleluia). Supreme Mach is as honest as they come and has been performing well against easier company.
Trainer Shannon Price has the fire power to spoil the Dixon party. Price will harness up last start G2 4 & 5 Year-Old Championship winner Chevals Clivesdale. The son of The Globe USA will start from 10 of the back row with the in-form Brad Cowen at the reins.
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