BLAST FROM THE PAST
2011 INTER-DOMINION PACING HEAT: Won by Themightyquinn
 2011 SEW EURODRIVE INTER-DOMINION PACERS (Heat 2)
The only difference to the finish in this Heat to the first one was that the Australians ran 1,2 and 4, rather than 1,2 and 3. Choise Achiever was the lone New Zealand placegetter, beaten a half-head for second. The only Australian horse to miss a first three finish was Blacks A Fake, and it so happened that he's probably run best of them all.
With Washakie running on springs in front, and Choise Achiever just as keen in behind, Blacks A Fake ran easily in the open. They were all fodder for Themightyquinn once Gary Hall jnr dropped him to the trail. They sped home in 54.6, which again gave the chasing bunch no show. The first four around the corner held their places.
"My horse was a bit fresh, because I have been easy on him, and Themightyquinn has a brilliant burst," said Luke McCarthy, the driver of Washakie. Choise Achiever looked comfortable with the big step up, running strongly in the trail and anxious to do more. "That's the first time I've used him off the gate, and he made the lead easily," said Anthony Butt.
Given the same run that won him the Auckland Cup, Themightyquinn was in his element. Hall's main occupation after finding the back of Blacks A Fake was choosing the time to set him loose. The slush from the wet track made it difficult. "I had to pull my goggles down on the corner. I couldn't see how much ground we had to make up," he said. "It's good that he's doing it in the wet, because he hasn't been that good in it at home."
Hall said it had been easier for Themightyquinn back in Perth where the opposition did not have the depth that he is facing here. "But the horse is as well as he has ever been. I couldn't be happier. He's coming through these runs so well, because he's not being used up. At home, he's in a walk-in, walk-out box, but here he goes into a paddock at 9 or 10 o'clock, and stays out till 4." Hall does not have to worry about how much grass he eats. "He's not a guts, and has room for lunch. He does manage himself very well, like all good athletes."
But Hall knows the sunny days can turn cloudy at any time. "There are a lot of variables to consider. Smoken Up, Blacks A Fake, the others, all need different trips. The barrier draw will have a lot to do with it," he said.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 30Mar2011
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