Amazing Victorian pacer Villagem simply monstered his rivals in Friday night's The Legends at Tabcorp Park
Freakish, arrogant, breathtaking and obviously underdone, Villagem incontrovertibly proved that he is the new superstar of Victorian harness racing with a track-record breaking triumph in the Group 2 Caravan Industry Vic, The Legends at Tabcorp Park last night.
Sent out as a $2.10 favourite from gate four as he endeavoured to secure an invitation to Menangle’s Miracle Mile later in the month, most expected that David and Lisa Miles’ striking son of Village Jasper would lead them around in his first run since Super Sunday.
But with Gavin Lang desperate to hold the top with polemarker Tanabi Bromac and Chris Alford true to his promise of aggression upon Our Malabar from his extreme front line draw, the fireworks were on from the start and the favourite was nowhere to be seen.
Ripping through a lead time and first split of 7.1 and 27.8-seconds respectively in the $50,000 1720-metre scamper – Victoria’s pre-eminent short-course race – the leaders were gasping for breath approaching the bell lap.
But just as the frenetic pace appeared to momentarily slacken, Miles was off and around them in a second section of 29.9, and although unable to find his preferred position cutting the breeze, the flying five-year-old was travelling like a giant down the back straight, three wide and exposed.
Having put paid to the punctured leading division in a 27.8-second penultimate split, Villagem was left vulnerable to only Justcallmecullen, who had enjoyed a copybook Scott Dyer drive tracking him every step of the way.
But just as it appeared a lack of recent racing might come back to haunt last season’s Chariots of Fire champion, he stepped into another gear, finishing off in 27.7 to complete a head shaking mile rate of 1:52.5 – slashing almost three-parts of a second off Few Good Men’s previous track benchmark and defeating Justcallmecullen and Cincinnati Kid by a neck and 7.3 metres respectively.
After the race, Villagem’s co-trainer David Miles was in understandable awe of his budding champion.
“He just does special things this horse, that make you shake your head and go ‘Wow’, and tonight was one of those wow factors,” the gifted horseman said.
Admitting both before and after the race that he had his concerns about Villagem first-up, in spite of a blistering recent trial at headquarters, Miles could scarcely hide his excitement at the dominance of his star pacer’s success.
Or his awareness that a Miracle Mile invitation is almost certain to be in next week’s mail.
“There’s nothing like match practice and he showed that at the top of the straight he was looking for a bit of air, but to his credit he had a big enough heart to hold them off,” he said.
“Now we’re just waiting on a call from (NSWHRC CEO) Mr Dumesny. But hopefully it won’t be too far away.”
A decision on whether Villagem will have another start before heading to Sydney will be made in coming days, but for now he is our newest Legend.