27 December 2018 | Wayne Currall
You realise Gloucester Park’s summer carnival is heating up when the Miracle Mile Champion is in town.
My Field Marshal, who won February’s Group 1 Miracle Mile (1609m) at Menangle in a track record time of 1:46.9, will have his first look at headquarters when he lines up in Friday night’s $50,000 Village Kid Pace (2130m).
The seven-year-old Art Major entire has drawn gate five in the sprint and will do battle with local stars Mr Mojito (gate two), Runrunjimmydunn (three), Our Max Phactor (six), Our Jimmy Johnstone (seven), Vultan Tin (eight), Rocknroll Lincoln (nine) and Mitch Maguire (10).
My Field Marshal is trained by former New Zealand horseman Tim Butt, who is now training out of Sydney, and is driven by Butt’s brother, Anthony.
The Butt brothers know their horse well and will have him primed to run a big race at his first start at GP.
My Field Marshal is a genuine Grand Circuit horse with the impressive record of 24 wins and 21 placings from 54 starts for more than $1.1M in prize money.
He possesses brilliant speed from the machine, but is equally as effective coming off a sit, which he did with a devastating 53.3 sprint ove the last 800m of the Miracle Mile.
Tim Butt wisely decided to bypass the recent Inter Dominion series in Victoria because he believes his horse races best when kept “fresh”.
My Field Marshal had a five-month spell over winter and spring, returning to the track earlier this month.
He showed the break had done him the world of good by recording a “soft win” over the 1609m at Menangle in a mile rate of 1:50.9.
My Field Marshal is here for our two big races – the Group 1 Fremantle Pacing Cup and the Group 1 WA Pacing Cup early next year – and the Butts will be keen to impress the handicapper on Friday night.
It’s a ripper of a race and it won’t be a walk in the park for My Field Marshal, but he looks the one they all have to beat.
Our Max Phactor, the winner of 10 of his 11 starts at GP, will have plenty of admirers despite drawing wide and facing the best field he’s come up against.
Last-start winner Mr Mojito, the evergreen Our Jimmy Johnstone and the consistent Rocknroll Lincoln all have legitimate claims.
However, the NSW raider has the score on the board and seems certain to prove the testing material over the sprint trip.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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