A STAR-studded field of three-year-old boys has been assembled to contest tonight’s $195,000 IRT Group 1 Breeders Crown final.
And racing, punting and media experts believe it is shaping at the season’s greatest harness race.
Eight Group 1s are scheduled,peaking at 8.33pm with the three-year-old colts and geldings final.
The voice of Victorian harness racing, Dan Mielicki, said there was a possibility this could be the best race in Victoria this season.
“The high-quality depth is obvious,” he said.
“It’s the end of the three-year-old season and looking at horses like Ignatius, Ride High, who is possibly still on the up, Poster Boy is such a classy professional and the Derby winner (Colt Thirty One) has drawn gate one and is almost an afterthought.
“If people are struggling to put the Derby winner in their top three, that gives a reflection of how strong it is.”
The quality is also reflected in the numbers.
When compared to the previous four stagings of the race, the winning percentage of this year’s class (47 per cent of all starts) far exceeds any other.
The next highest was 41 per cent in 2015-16, when Menin Gate saluted, and the average winning mile rate (1:56.6) was almost two seconds slower than this year’s contenders.
The depth is not lost on top New Zealand trainer-driver Mark Purdon, who will steer South East Derby winner Duplicated, a $35 TAB chance, from gate 12.
“The overall quality is high, four or five of the best chances could win any other year,” he said.
“James Rattray’s Ignatius heat run was very, very good, as was Poster Boy — they are two real class acts.”
Their war in last Saturday night’s Breeders Crown semifinal at Bendigo is burned into the memory of leading bookmaker Tom Hogan.
“Poster Boy and Ignatius were the best of the heat runs,” he said.
“I’d probably tip Poster Boy from Ignatius, but the depth and quality — I’m sure in 18 months’ these horses are going in Grand Circuit races and I’m sure they will measure up.
“I’ve never seen a field like this — it presents as one of the greatest three-year-old races I’ve seen in the last 20 years.
“This field is as good as you can get … usually you only get one or two that stand out, this time it’s five or six.”
