The New Zealand harness racing scene waved goodbye to 2019 in Group 1 style on Tuesday with an evening of premier racing at Alexandra Park.
The three Group 1 races on the card were complemented by the PGG Wrightson NZ Yearling Sales Series Final at listed level and showcased the very best at their very best!
The first Group 1 race of the night The $138,000 Alabar Sire Stakes Fillies Championship for three-year-olds was won by the Natalie Rasmussen driven Amazing Dream (Bettor's Delight – Christian Dreamer – Christian Cullen) for the All Stars Stables of Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen.
The class filly again showed her undeniable quality by making a three wide bid over the last lap and being too good for a brave Stylish Memphis in the run home.
Dr Susan closed in late for third while the Robert Dunn trained duo of Spellbound and Need You Know, who dictated the race tempo from the front, both felt the pace over the last furlong.
The overall time was 2.38.23 over the 2200m mobile.
Amazing Dream
The $200,000 PGG Wrightson NZ Yearling Sales Series Final (listed) was won by the race favourite One Change (Bettor's Delight – Changedown – Falcon Seelster) who found the lead early before taking a trail behind stablemate Flying Even Bettor.
The Barry Purdon trained Bad To The Bone made the most of a good mid-race position and fought well down the outer for second while Flying Even Bettor fought well for third.
The second favourite Smooth Deal met with trouble early and was meritorious thereafter.
Overall Race time was 2.36.80 over the 2200m mobile.
One Change
The $98,000 Sims Pacific Metals 2019 National Trot, arguably the deepest race of the night, was won by Inter Dominion champion Winterfell (Majestic Son) who produced a winning sprint over the final furlong after finding the trail early to snare the title from a brave Majestic Man who led up and fought well in the run home.
Oscar Bonavena, the tote favourite, moved mid-race to a position outside the leader but couldn’t muster enough over the final stages and had to settle for third place while Temporale rounded off the top four placings.
Overall race time was 3.21.24 over the 2700m mobile.
Winterfell
The Trillian Trust 2019 Auckland Cup, over the extreme two mile distance, concluded the group racing for the night and saw Self Assured, a 4yr old son of Bettor’s Delight, dictate terms in front and win impressively with the overall time dipping below the four minute mark.
The Fixer, stablemate to the winner, obtained a trail throughout and battled on well enough to claim second over a fast finishing Triple Eight from the Steve Telfer barn and Chase Auckland who ran a very good fourth.
Overall race time was 3.59.42
Self Assured
The win of Self Assured completed an All Stars night-to-remember with all four feature winners coming from the stable.
For full results from tonight's meeting click on this link.
Ben McMillan