Aussie raider and ‘the puppet’ dominant in NZ debut

Expat Kiwi harness racing trainer, Brent Lilley, sent a stern warning to his New Zealand counterparts when the Australian raider Aldebaran Zeus (Muscle Hill) dominated his rivals in G2 Waikato Flying Mile at Cambridge Raceway last night (Apr. 14).

The odds-on favourite came with a big reputation and boy did he deliver.

The Muscle Hill entire was vastly superior on the night with an arrogant display of trotting, claiming the Open Class feature on the Race by Grins programme with a comfortable two-length victory in his first race on New Zealand soil.

Like the Race by Grins, much was made about early speed maps with noted flyers Majestic Man and Aldebaran Zeuss both declaring a desire to go forward early.

Those plans were ripped to shreds when the local mare, Sacred Mountain and Nicky Chilcott burned off the gate to hold out Invictus and Chrystal Hackett in the sprint to the first bend with a first quarter posted in 27.7.

This left the favoured pair of Aldebaran Zeuss and Majestic Man trapped three and four wide entering the home straight for the first time, with Alford seizing the initiative and pressing forward to lead as the eight runners heard the judge’s bell at the winning post.

From there ‘the puppet’ and ‘Zeus’ dominated proceedings with the flashy stallion settling beautifully in front before ripping home in 57.6 to win easily over a gallant Love N The Port and Maurice McKendry, with Sacred Mountain game in third on her home track.

It had been a long time between drinks for his pilot Chris Alford driving in the shaky aisles (2018) and even longer since he claimed a feature race here with Lombo La Fe Fe in the 2002 Great Northern Oaks. The Victorian was naturally delighted with the result aboard the Duncan McPherson owned and bred squaregaiter.

“It’s a big thrill on such a big night and it’s great to see such a big crowd,” said Alford.

“I was just happy we were able to see Majestic Man off the arm, I had a look at the tote board in the warmup and noted the ones drawn inside were pretty rough in betting and felt the front would be there for us if we pressed on.

“Once he got to the front he relaxed really well. I hope he gets better as the races go on throughout the Autumn,” he said.

ALDEBARAN ZEUS REPLAY

Aldebaran Zeus brings a touch of excitement to the Autumn trotting carnival that has been robbed of the likes of Sundees Son (retirement), Bolt For Brilliance (injury) and fellow Aussie trotter, Just Believe (Elitloppet).

With connections of Muscle Mountain declaring they would not be contesting the recently re-conditioned short course Auckland features, he could well line up a dominant favourite should he show manners from the starting tapes.

The winning time for the mile was 1:55.9, 1.4 seconds outside the race record set by Stent in 2014. If comments from his trainer Brent Lilley speaking to media after the race are anything to go by, Aldebaran Zeus was far from screwed down for tonight’s assignment and should strip a fitter animal as the carnival progresses.

“I purposely brought him over here underdone knowing he had a lot of racing and with the travel he had to cop. He should improve a lot from the run,” said Lilley.

For complete Cambridge race fields, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink