Punters now know what trainer Mark Purdon has suspected for a while: New Zealand’s best pacer Akuta has gone to another level.
The four-year-old pacer is into $1.80 to win the IRT New Zealand Cup at Addington on November 14 after smashing his rivals in the Flying Stakes at Ashburton yesterday.
Akuta settled last and was then sent on a mid-race move by stand-in driver Olivia Thornley but never looked like getting beaten, casting those tactical disadvantages aside with a 54.5 second last 800m, scooting down the Ashburton straight in 26.3 seconds without much cajoling.
Already the winner of an Auckland Cup, Taylor Mile and two Derbys and advanced enough to finish fourth in the New Zealand Cup last season, Akuta is very, very good but is now attempting to break through to champion status.
To do that he is going to need a collection of Cups and a nice big juicy Aussie win when he eventually heads there for a glamour clash with Leap To Fame but his next step to greatness is the New Zealand Cup, with a little stopover by the ocean next Monday at Kaikoura.
“We will back him up at Kaikoura because it will suit his training regime better,” Purdon told the Herald.
“He takes a lot of work and if we start him next week we can then do what we want with him in that last two weeks before the Cup.”
Back-to-back Monday feature races is not usually the Purdon way but Mark, who trains in partnership with son Nathan, says Akuta can handle it.
“He is very strong, stronger than when he won the Auckland Cup last campaign.
“Because of that he finds his work easier and even if his races easier than at the start of the year.
“He is just better now than he was when he won the Auckland Cup.”
Republican Party chased hard for second and confirmed he is a Cup player but it is hard to make a case for any of those who finished further back beating Akuta if he behaves himself in the New Zealand Cup.
Kango was a brave third while the winner’s stablemate Self Assured sat in the one-one and raced like an equine sportscar with a flat tyre and he will need to lift for Cup week, a trick he managed to pull off last season.
Maybe the biggest dangers to Akuta’s New Zealand Cup claims weren’t even at Ashburton yesterday, with Old Town Road still in Auckland but flying down this week to potentially take him on at Kaikoura.
Then Aussie raiders Swayzee and Spirit Of St Louis will turn up for Cup week and if Swayzee in particular can lead in the Cup then Akuta is going to need to be next level to beat him.
The emotion on track after Akuta won just a week after his owner Ian Dobson passed away was doubled down on two races later when Dobson’s famous colours were also worn to an even easier victory by Muscle Mountain in the Trotter’s Sprint.
After mucking around and getting beaten in his previous start at Addington, Muscle Mountain was liberated by driver Ben Hope yesterday and obliterated by rivals by six lengths.
Hope punched the sky with his whip as a salute for Dobson and Muscle Mountain confirmed himself as one of our best ever trotting sprinters.
The question of his Cup week will now be whether he can conserve his energy enough to win the 3200m Dominion, which will be made significantly more challenging if he has to give arch-rival Bolt For Brilliance a start in the group 1 on November.
Yesterday’s Ashburton meeting was one of the strongest New Zealand harness racing programmes of the season and the best form guide to New Zealand Cup week.
Here is what unfolded in the other features outside of the two open class races:
Race 4, Two-Year-Old Pacing Fillies: Treacherous Love continued the great recent run of North Island-trained horses at the south’s biggest meetings when she bolted away for trainer Brent Mangos.
She went straight to the front and driver Ricky May got away with a very slow early section before she blasted up the straight in 26.5 seconds for her last 400m.
Already the winner of the Delightful Lady Final she headed home a trifecta for pacing’s new rave stallion Captaintreacherous.
Race 5, Two-Year-Old Pacing Boys: When Cold Chisel beat Vessem in the Harness Million at
He is owned by Entain Australia boss Dean Shannon, who loves buying horses and trained by Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan who like training good young horses, so everybody went home happy.
It was a bonus for Aussie rock fans and those who know horses with cool names deserve good things to happen to them.
Race 6: Three-Year-Old Pacing Fillies: The biggest talking point out of the race was the scratching of Millwood Nike, who was unbeaten in 15 and still is.
She got kicked by another horse yesterday morning so didn’t start and Aardiebytheseaside was the major beneficiary after working early, then copping a trail and holding out the luckless Treacherous Gal.
Another win (kinda) for the North with Steve and Amanda Telfer having stables in both islands but their premiership-winning machine is run from South Auckland so while Aardiebytheseaside keeps winning she will be a northerner.
Next stop is the Nevele R Fillies Final on NZ Cup Day and that means taking on Millwood Nike and Mantra Blue, which will be less fun.
Race 7, Three-Year-Old Trot: Star trainer of trotters Phil Williamson thought Aroha Kenny was his best three-year-old trotter but Isolate is making a strong case to change his mind.
The big, fast and raw daughter of former age group star Escapee, Isolate gave most of our better three-year-old trotters a start and the go by in a 1:56.6 mile rate for 1700m.
She is so inexperienced she can surely only get better and is still only second favourite for the NZ Trotting Oaks even though she thrashed favourite Walkinonsunshine yesterday.
The big improver out of the race and the horse to beat in the NZ Trotting Derby on December 10 is Confessional.
Race 8: Three-Year-Old Pacing Boys: There was a little bit of time-machine about watching Tony Herlihy winning two features yesterday in NZ harness racing’s most successful colours.
Herlihy rose to greatness sporting the silver and blue colours of his father-in-law, the late Roy Purdon and brother-in-law Barry in the 1980s and they ruled harness racing for two decades.
These days those colours are worn by the horses Barry trains with Scott Phelan and Herlihy drives for them rarely as he has his own team and they have their own drivers.
But Tony moved at the right time on Cold Chisel earlier in the card and again on Sooner The Better in this race to comprehensively beat two Dunn racing runners in Triple G and Who’s Delight.
These horses all have two problems blocking their future pathways in every major race: Don’t Stop Dreaming and Merlin, who will be favourites when this crop get to their NZ Derby on December 10.
Race 10, Aged Pacing Mares: Aardie’s Express sat four wide for the first half of the race and won so easily she could have sat four wide the entire 1700m and she still would have won.
She is very good, looked sounder yesterday than in recent starts and while she rated 1:52.6 for the 1700m she looks well capable of breaking 1:50 for the mile if, as intended, she makes it to Menangle in March.
The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.