The 2004 Australasian Breeders Crown Day will long be
remembered as the day the Kiwis came, saw and conquered Bendigo and the sport?s
premier juvenile events.
New Zealand-trained horses were
victorious in four of the six finals conducted at yesterday?s Super Sunday
program at Bendigo and bar for a dose of bad luck it could well have been a
clean sweep.
Super Command (2YO trotters,
pictured), Molly Darling (2YO fillies), Hurricane Flyer (3YO trotters) and Fake
Denario (3YO colts & geldings) headed back across the Tasman late last
night with the lion?s share of the record $855,000 prizemoney on offer yesterday.
Victorian-trained duo Emmas Only
and Nemeeshar staved off the Kiwi raiders in the 2YO colts & geldings final
and the 3YO fillies final respectively to provide some much needed joy to the
locals, but there were some hard luck stories.
The Andy Gath-trained Emmas Only
held off the challenge from Kiwi duo Arid, who looked most unlucky after
copping a check with 400 metres to travel, and Strauss who sat parked
throughout in a stirring finish.
Nemeeshar was dynamic and
thoroughly deserved her win, but while Chris Alford was up on the pace
dictating proceedings with the Jayne Davies-trained filly, glamour Kiwi Copper
Beach was stuck behind a wall of traffic and never saw daylight.
The drive cost her reinsman David
Butcher a six week suspension, stewards of the opinion that he failed to take
every reasonable and permissible measure to obtain the best possible finishing
position on the dual Oaks winner.
On a day when in excess of 4,500 people
gathered under bright sunny skies at Lords Raceway, the undoubted highlight of
a stellar 10 race program was the $121,500 Breeders Crown 3YO Colts &
Geldings Final where the winner Fake Denario shaved 1.2 seconds off the track
record.
In a race where the four Kiwi
reinsman took up the initiative and the fight to the Aussies, the lead changed on
numerous occasions setting up a frenetic pace.
In the end the Steve Reid-trained
Fake Denario charged along the Goldwood Sprint Lane to claim countryman Lennon
in a truly memorable contest, stopping the clock at a staggering 1:56.0 mile
rate for the 1965 metre journey.
On the driving front, six-time
Australian champion Chris Alford dominated proceedings piloting four winners,
including two Breeders Crown finals on Nemeeshar and Hurricane Flyer.
The performance has confirmed he?s
ranking as Australasia?s premier Breeders Crown reinsman with the 36-year-old
taking his all-time Breeders Crown haul to five, two more than nearest rival
Brian Gath.
Elsewhere, breeding buffs were
buzzing with boom sires Christian Cullen and Presidential Ball both claiming
their maiden Breeders Crown titles.
Presidential Ball was represented
by 2YO colts and geldings champion Emmas Only, whilst Christian Cullen provided
the quinella in the two-year-old fillies final with Molly Darling narrowly
accounting for Triliner.
The other sires to add a Breeders
Crown title to their CV yesterday were Britewell (Super Command), Village
Jasper (Nemeeshar), Fake Left (Fake Denario) and Sundon (Hurricane Flyer).
