Mark Purdon has unearthed another superstar squaregaiter in Muscles Yankee five-year-old I Can Doosit
The stunning state of Australasian squaregaiting was on full display at Shepparton on Saturday night as boom Kiwi I Can Doosit and rejuvenated star Ronerail fought out a spine tingling finish to the $30,000 Group 2 E B Cochran Cup just six days from one of our biggest carnivals.
Isolated by punters as the dominant winning hopes in the 2690-metre mobile feature, Ronerail ($1.60) and I Can Doosit ($3.00) both started safely, but it was the former who won the start, crossing early race leader Viva La Fever to find the front through a lead-in split of 85.8-seconds before applying the brakes for the next half-mile.
Beautifully rated by Daryl Douglas in the lead, Ronerail kicked off the final mile with a perfect pair of 32.4-second sections as Mark Purdon peeled from his one-by-one trail almost 20 metres off the speed to sit parked with I Can Doosit for the final circuit of the race.
Stepping on the gas for the first time as they careered down the Quest Racing Complex back stretch, Douglas sought to take the sting out of his Trans-Tasman rival and approaching the lane off a penultimate fraction of 28.4 it appeared he and Ronerail may have pinched a march.
But with Purdon continuing to sit perfectly still on I Can Doosit – making his first Aussie appearance since a luckless fifth behind Sundons Gift in the Australasian Trotting Grand Prix on December 18 – it soon became clear that the race was going down to the wire.
Locked in combat all the way up the straight as they put paid to their seven rivals in a brutal closing cut of 27.9 to complete a 2:03.8 mile rate, it was the Kiwi who lifted on the line to triumph over Ronerail by a neck, with Go Ahead Makemyday almost 10 metres astern in third.
The narrow but brilliant win by Purdon’s flying five-year-old, which came a tick over 24 hours after Chris Lang’s rising star Let Me Thru cruised to victory in a much easier race at Melton has certainly set the scene for heats of the Australian Trotting Championship at Ballarat next Saturday night.
An integral part of the SKY Racing Nights Of Glory Carnival, the SEW-Eurodrive Australian Trotting Championship will culminate in a $150,000 Group 1 Final at Tabcorp Park on BIG6 Hunter Cup night; February 5.
Earlier in the night, Shepparton showcased some of the state’s finest juvenile talent in a pair of $20,000 The Lombo final’s for the baby girls and boys.
Chris Alford’s promising daughter of Modern Art, Work Of Artist, kicked off the card with victory in the fillies division of the series, producing an enormous effort to record a 2:00.0 mile rate in winning at just her second race start.
While in the colts and geldings decider, Kerryn Manning’s strapping son of Our Sir Vancelot, The Noble Steed, eased to a powerful and comprehensive win.
Recording a 1:57.1 mile rate after sitting parked and exposed throughout, the gifted gelding – who is also owned by Manning – established himself as arguably the best young horse Victoria has produced this season, and one who is likely to be a major player in the biggest juvenile races on the Australian harness calendar.
