INNOVATION doesn’t always have to be radical. In fact, sometimes it only takes a slight tweak to make a huge difference and that’s exactly how it played out with this TAB Summer of Glory
The decision to pull the What The Hill Great Southern Star out of Del-Re National A. G. Hunter Cup night and make it a stand-alone meeting to build a “double-header” weekend of feature racing has proven an inspired move.
Sure, there could be some further tweaks along the way – like switching the DNR Logistics 4YO Bonanza back to the week before the Hunter Cup for a variety of reasons – but the sustained focus on feature harness racing the double-header created was truly uplifting.
There was something different and special about spending all night at Melton on Friday night then re-loading for more of the same just 18 hours later.
Luck was on our side. The promised Armageddon-like weather on Friday night didn’t eventuate and then Saturday night was largely ideal weather.
And then there was the racing, in-particular local heroes Tornado Valley and Lochinvar Art, who delivered their magic.
Tornado Valley’s unthinkable and unexpected title defence in the Great Southern Star was as good as it gets. He’d narrowly escaped retirement and wasn’t even going to contest the series just five days before it.
And how good was it to have the Great Southern Star back to its original, Elitloppet-inspired, heats and final in the same night format?
That moment when Tornado Valley defied everything to beat Majestic Man and smashed the record then stretched into three hours of anticipation and wonder as he tried to add the final and take his tally to 10 Group 1 wins.
And that last 80m of the final when, as the crowd watched and largely hoped, Tornado Valley rallied bravely along the sprint lane to get past a gallant Magicool and snatch victory.
With the buzz of Tornado Valley still burning, it was time to reload and hope Victoria’s, Australia’s, no make that Australasia’s best pacer, Lochinvar Art, could turn Hunter Cup night into an 'Arty Party'.
Of course he did.
We expected nothing less and Arty delivered.
His sixth Group 1 win in the past 13 months, taking the first two legs of Australian harness racing’s big three (Victoria and Hunter Cups) and firming to $1.70 to make it a cleans weep in the $1 million Miracle Mile at Menangle on March 6.
Even the hardest, most conservative judges are starting to talk about him as one of THE modern day greats.
And he’s our own.
The Arty Party might have left Victoria, but let’s get behind him as he heads to the Newcastle Mile on Friday week and the Miracle Mile 15 days later.
by Adam Hamilton