The 2016 TAB.com.au Summer of Glory carnival will be remembered as the Summer of Lenny or the Summer of Smolda, depending on how you look at it.
From a Victorian perspective, Lennytheshark’s Good Form Victoria Cup win brought the house down – the large home crowd at Melton cheering as Chris Alford drove the David Aiken trained star to victory in the Group 1, 2240-metre classic.
Lennytheshark won the Inter Dominion in December, but fell narrowly shy of a much coveted Grand Circuit treble at the weekend, finishing runner-up to Have Faith In Me in Australasian record time of 1:47.5.
Smolda took out the Road to Glory feature, the PETstock Ballarat Pacing Cup before his narrow defeat in the Victoria Cup behind Lennytheshark. But defeated Mark Purdon trained horses don’t stay defeated for long, and Smolda bounced back to his best with victory in the Del-Re National A.G. Hunter Cup.
The new TrotsCam coverage, which debuted on course at Tabcorp Park over the Summer of Glory, proved a hit with fans and punters alike enjoying the up-close-and-personal footage of drivers and horses from never-before-seen camera angles.
Large crowds were on hand both nights of the Summer of Glory, which was pleasing to officials, and the racing proved first-class with performances such as Tact Tate destroying his rivals in the 4YO Bonanza, Keystone Del returning to top form in the Trotting Grand Prix and of course Lazarus’s Derby triumph sure to remain etched in trots’ fans memories long into the future.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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