The darling of Tabcorp Park Menangle withstood the best mares in Australia to stamp herself as one of our greatest ever at Menangle today.
Champion harness racing mare Frith show acceleration and courage to wallop a field of the best mares in Australasia as she scored a one and a half metre win over plucky Kiwi mare Our Willow with Victorian mare Nike Franco a flashing third.
Victory in this $200,000 Cordina Chicken Farms Ladyship Mile was perhaps the biggest victory in young reinsman Todd McCarthy’s short career as Frith rated 1:51.9 to surge past the $1m mark in earnings.
Todd declared he had the best horse in the race as soon as the mobile let them go as Frith burned across the face of the field from gate 11 to clear them easily and hold a two-length lead by the time they passed the post the first time.
McCarthy knew that after a 27.8s opening split that Frith would love a tiny breather and was able to back off the speed with a 30.1s second split before putting the foot down and letting his rivals do the chasing.
Turning for home after a 27.6s third quarter, Frith showed her dazzling speed when she sizzled home in 26.4 seconds to hold off the fast-finish of My Willow, who had the drop on her all the way after holding the back of the leader from gate one.
Despite the urgings of Mark Purdon, the tiny My Willow, tried her hardest to catch Frith before settling for second while Nike Franco held off the other quick-finisher Berisari to run third.
McCarthy, the son of two-time Miracle Mile winner John McCarthy later commented:
“She’s something else and will go down in history as a special mare.
“I wasn’t too sure, it’s a big ask to cross all the good ones but she has that much speed and showed it today.
“She felt strong in the straight. I knew there were a couple behind with plenty of speed. But we hit the line at top speed and did enough to hold them off.
“She’s so tough and she never lays down. When you drive her you get a really special feel and I actually got goose bumps as we crossed the line.”