Blitzern became the first interstate pacer to take out the Group 2 Lees Orchard Tassie Golden Apple, and he took 0.2s off the 2200m standing start track record in the process of his 14.9m victory.
The Western Terror entire had to chase hard to fill a one-out and two-back position at the 1400m.
Trainer-driver Allan McDonough moved out three wide on the race favourite at the 800m before taking over at the 500m.
“He sort of scrambled away the first 20 yards, so I made sure I kept him pacing, and then when they were going a bit hard, I wasn’t too worried as I looked at the big screen, and I knew the better ones were well behind me.
“Once he gets a half across on them, he gets lazy, but once I popped the blinds on him, he went into overdrive,” said McDonough post-race.
The Rohan Hillier-trained pair Montana Storm and Ryley Major filled the placings.
McDonough said the race came onto his radar a month ago, and after a dominant win in the heat, he took the pacer back to Victoria in preparation for the final.
“I have had him since day one and we knew he is a pretty good horse. Clayton (Tonkin) drove him a trip the other day and said he was ready to go.
Blitzern will now be targeted at the four-year-old leg of the Vicbred series before another possible trip south.
“We may look at the Devonport and Hobart Cups, but the Vicbred is our main aim, and then we will see how he is after that,” said the trainer-driver.
Another pacer on a Vicbred path is Longford Equine Clinic Golden Slipper winner Rock Artist, for visiting Victorian trainer Emma Stewart.
Also driven by McDonough, the gelded son of Yankee Rockstar had to pull out all stops late to hold off the challenge of talented local De Goey.
The night’s other feature, the Tassie Wash Golden Girls, went the way of So Art I, also for the McDonough and Stewart combination.
