Lennytheshark and Chris Alford win the 2016 Victoria Cup.
Lennytheshark can plonk a gold-plated cherry on the top of a spectacular three-tiered cake this Sunday.
Victory in the $750,000 SEW Eurodrive Miracle Mile would deliver the field’s sole Victorian-trained hope an unforgettable treble and a place in pacing history.
Not only would Lennytheshark become the first horse since Preux Chevalier in 1984-85 to win the Inter Dominion, Victoria Cup and Miracle Mile in one season, he would also become the first Victorian trained pacer since Smoken Up in 2012 to win the Australian Pacing Gold Grand Circuit.
They’re the dreams, but first are the realities.
Punters have kept New South Wales champion Beautide ($2.80) and New Zealand’s Have Faith In Me ($3) tighter than the David Aiken-trained hope, with Lennytheshark sandwiched between the pair on the front row.
Boom four-year-old mare Arms Of An Angel will start from barrier one, with trainer Shane Tritton declaring she would “lead for sure” and “dictate the race … she has a huge winning change”.
Those fighting words fit comfortably with Lennytheshark’s driver Chris Alford.
“I’m happy with where we have drawn,” Alford said. “I’m hoping they will go out and try and break the track record and we’ll take our chances when they present.”
Alford will have the ability to pick his moment aboard Lennytheshark, who has proven his speed and stamina and subsequently has a big window of opportunity.
“A lot will depend on the first 50m, but he’s very versatile and so there will be plenty of options.”
The mile distance hasn’t featured prominently in Lennytheshark’s brilliant season.
He last mile was the Inter Dominion heat at Bunbury, when he won by 2.2m, but before that it was the Group 1 Len Smith Mile at Menangle when he was third behind Smolda and Beautide, overcoming a difficult draw to make ground on the favourites.
On that day the winner run a 1:50.6 mile, but it’s expected that on Sunday the winner will have gone a good deal faster, potentially threatening Adore Me’s Australasian and track record mile rate of 1:47.7.
“He’s a super miler,” Alford said. “I think the harder they go the better, he’s a stayer but he has speed and you need a good stayer to run a quick strong mile. He can do it all now.
“I’m pretty sure he can go (1 minute) 48. If the track is fast, it is a good day and there’s no breeze I’m sure they can run that.”
Media enquiries:
MICHAEL HOWARD
MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS CO-ORDINATOR
HARNESS RACING VICTORIA
PO BOX 184, MOONEE PONDS, VIC 3039
400 EPSOM ROAD, FLEMINGTON, VIC 3031
t: 03 8378 0286 | f: 03 9214 0699 | e: mhoward@hrv.org.au
www.hrv.org.au
