While Natalie Rasmussen allowed her horse to settle down early back near the rear from its second-row draw, John McCarthy came out with all guns blazing with Be Good Johnny from its wide barrier draw.  Trapped out wide for the first 300 metres or so, McCarthy maintained his desire to make it to the front, finally taking his pacer to the lead with more than 800 metres to travel.  Brad Cowen moved I Am Sam up to lead the outside line. 

If McCarthy thought by leading with speed might catch the short-priced favourite at a disadvantage near the rear with Blacks A Fake not yet at its best, he persisted in the hope such tactics would find a weakness in the preparation of Australia’s undisputed No 1 pacer.  

The fast lead time of 36.6 seconds was followed by the slowest quarter of the last mile with 30.8 seconds.  McCarthy senior then went into overdrive with Johnny Be Good, reeling off the second quarter in 29.9, followed by that last half-mile in a brilliant 56.9. 

Be Good Johnny, himself a good winner on previous Grand Circuits, could not sustain such speed when the favourite ranged up alongside him some 70 metres out.  Blacks A Fake moved past like an assassin who is pleased with it having been a nice clean job.  The second favourite weakened over the final 40 metres to finish 5^th. 

Once again it was a case of Blacks A Fake winning a Group 1 event by only a close margin of 1¼ metres. But this is the way Natalie Rasmussen drives the horse, timing its final burst to get the horse to the front in the shadows of the post. 

The only occasion in the past year on the Barastoc Grand Circuit the son of Fake Left USA had its colours lowered was last season’s Ballarat Cup when a two-horse war with Safari (Brian Gath) brought the Queenslander undone.  Rasmussen later blamed herself for that loss, claiming she had been too easy on the champion leading up to that gruelling race. 

Safari, the main rival for Blacks A Fake, recently went amiss and is unlikely to be seen at the track in coming months. 

Immediately after Saturday night’s victory, Natalie Rasmussen explained she was once again in awe of how her horse had gone. “He was just super tonight, as he is so focussed and determined in his races now, and really enjoying it. 

 “The leaders had gone hard early and I thought they would have to come back to us a little, and I knew ‘Blackie’ would be strong at the finish,” she said. 

“They were coming at us in the straight when he got to the front, but he did it well and actually flicked his ears up just before the line,” she added. 

This Saturday night the champ gets to improve on his already spectacular record of 44 wins from 57 starts and stake earnings of more than $2.96 million with the second leg of the Barastoc Grand Circuit – the $150,000 Trans Tasman, also around Albion Park over an extra 450m.