Smolda winning the Tabcorp Len Smith Mile at Menangle on Sunday. Photo by Michael Court
FANS came to see the mighty Beautide add to his burgeoning trophy cabinet.
But they left lauding the talents of the mighty All Stars stable from New Zealand after under-rated six-year-old Smolda scored an upset win in today’s $100,000 Group One Tabcorp Len Smith Mile at Tabcorp Park Menangle.
Another superb drive by three-time Inter Dominion winning reinswoman Natalie Rasmussen saw Smolda move out from a perfect trailing position on the home turn and run down the “king of Menangle” Beautide and score a 2.3m win.
Victorian visitor Lennytheshark was an eye-catching third, a further 2.3m away, just ahead of Blazin N Cullen, who again caught the eye finishing just behind the placegetters.
Beautide was sent out a prohibitive $1.20 favourite by punters and James Rattray drive him accordingly, stuck three-wide out of the gate, he took his time to move up outside the leaders and eventually find the front, where he was able to dictate terms to suit himself.
After a 26.7s first quarter of his last mile, Beautide settled a bit with a 29.5 second split running into a stiff breeze up the back straight.
After a 28.1s third quarter, Rattray began to get busy and seldom do you see him get as urgent in the sulky as he quickly spotted that Smolda was finishing fast out wide and looked to have all the momentum.
With a final quarter in 26.3s, Smolda swept to the front and the injury-prone son of Courage Under Fire went to the line a clear winner to give Purdon and Rasmussen both feature races of the day after earlier winning the APG final with smart youngster Our Waikiki Beach.
“He’s had some setbacks, this horse, but he appears to be over them now and we should be able to go on and win a few decent races with him now,” said Purdon, who won the Renshaw Cup at Penrith with Smolda at his previous start before stepping aside to give Rasmussen the drive in the Len Smith Mile.
“His run at Penrith was enormous and the way he sprinted impressed me, so I was confident he’d keep Beautide honest today.”
Smolda rated 1:50.6 for the journey and showed he could be a force in the New Zealand Cup later this year and may even convince Purdon to have a crack at the Inter Dominion with him in Perth after that.
