Neil Allen wore a grin that was more than 50 years in the making after last night’s Group 3 Apco Geelong Pacing Cup was taken out by the Jess Tubbs trained mare Rakero Rebel.
The only mare in the field, Rakero Rebel was given the run of the race in the one out one back trail by Greg Sugars on the back of the $2.70 favorite Mach Dan who wasn’t able to wrest the lead off Keayang Tokyo at the start.
Sugars bided his time before peeling out on straightening and Rakero Rebel ($3.70) produced her trademark strong finale to grab Mach Dan in the shadows of the post scoring by half a neck on the line.
A former long-standing president of the Geelong club, an elated Allen was still shaking minutes after the race.
“I have been trying to win this race for more than 50 years and while I’ve had a few handy horses over the time I’ve never had one good enough to run in the Geelong Cup,” Allen said.
Allen approached Sugars two and a half years ago asking him to find him a going horse to race.
“I’m getting on in years and was looking for a horse that was up and running so Greg put me into this mare he found in New Zealand,” he said.
“He really liked her when she arrived, and he and Jess have done a great job developing her into one of the best mares going around.”
Allen said plans to finally have a cup runner were placed on the table six weeks ago and gathered momentum after she scored an impressive first up win at Melton last Saturday night.
“She was coming back from a spell, and they wanted to get one run into her before the cup and she came out and won first up,” he said.
“Greg was quietly confident after she won at Melton but he said it can sometimes be tricky in a small field, but he landed exactly where he wanted to one out one back.”
Allen comes from a family steeped in the sport.
“My father used to drive back in the day when they used to ride trotters and his brother was the father of a well-known trainer driver Clarrie Allen,” he said.
Sugars admitted his stocks rose when he landed in the perfect trail.
“I knew I’d be pretty close to the mark the way the race had unfolded but Mach Dan is a great old horse and I knew he’d be pretty hard to run past,” Sugars said
“And although she was impressive first up our mare only being second up and if they turned it into a real true staying test up the straight, she could be vulnerable but she stuck her head out,” he said.
Sugars said the daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven will be aimed at the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth 11 Mile at Menangle on May 10.
The Emma Stewart trained former Kiwi Harold Smith made a mid-race move and was never headed thereafter in the Haras Des Trotteurs McNamara Memorial Trotters Cup.
Harold Smith, who chased home Oscar Bonavena in the Cranbourne Trotters Cup last month, produced his best effort since arriving on Australian shores according to driver Mark Pitt.
“I thought the Cranbourne Cup was one of his best runs but tonight has to be his best, he got away pretty good and mustered to find the front and he was too strong late,” Pitt said.