Broadways Best was an easy winner of the Ladyship Cup
The countdown is on to the clash between Australia's two in-form mares after Broadways Best set Tabcorp Park alight in Friday night's $30,000 Group 3 Harness Breeders Vic Ladyship Cup at Melton.
A week after Make Mine Cullen thrashed her rivals in the first leg of Victoria's mares' triple crown - the Cinderella Stakes - Broadways Best reminded the harness world of her ability in the second leg.
She went within 0.4secs of Few Good Men's track record when she rated 1:53.6 in the 1720-metre mobile.
"I said to my brother Christian during the week, and I wasn't being smart, that I thought she could get near the track record," McLean said.
"She just felt unbelievable during the week and she vindicated it. But I reckon it's the first time we've had her 100 percent and I think she's only going to get better."
A cracking drive by Nathan Jack, who was filling in for suspended regular reinsman Chris Alford, was a key component of the win.
Despite starting from barrier nine on the back row, the daughter of Village Jasper somehow cut a swathe through the field and was in front after 300m.
She completed that slick first quarter in 28 seconds, backed off slightly to 29.2secs for the second split before breaking the field up with a 27.9sec third quarter.
She came home in 29secs to secure a four-metre win over Intuitional ($20) with Miss Laura Jane ($28) finishing hard to edge out Ananz and Elixir for third, almost three metres back.
The question every harness fan now wants to know is when Broadways Best will clash with Make Mine Cullen?
McLean said that won't be in next week's final triple crown leg - the $100,000 Group 1 Queen Of The Pacific - meaning they might not meet until the Tabcorp Australasian Breeders Crown in August.
"She hasn't qualified from the stand (start), so we're not going to try and push her," McLean said. "Plus, if we run this week and next week that would be six runs in seven weeks, which is just too much.
"So I can't see where they will meet (before the Breeders Crown). We just want to get her right for the Breeders Crown and bounce back from last year.
"Make Mine Cullen has got two up on us and providing it's fit and healthy and not at end of its campaign and we're at the same boat, it will good to see how they'll go when they do meet."
