Epic rivalry brewing for $1 milllion Nullarbor

An epic coast-to-coast harness racing rivalry is brewing for the inaugural $1 million Nullarbor at Gloucester Park.

Two sparkling wins over the weekend have taken WA’s newest and richest harness race to a new level.

The first was gifted local Magnificent Storm’s (American Ideal) brilliant return to winning form at Gloucester Park last Friday night.

Then came a speed blitz from the emerging former Kiwi pacer Betterzippit at Menangle last night.

Betterzippit (Betterthancheddar) is one of three NSW pacers – Spirit Of St Louis (Sweet Lou) and Loyalist the others – crossing Australia to take on WA’s best pacers in the Nullarbor.

Betterzippit is trained by Jason Grimson, the man that has redefined feature open-class racing over the past 18 months. In that time he’s won the past two Inter Dominions and a string of other major races.

Much of Grimson’s success has come with “cast-offs” but Betterzippit came to him as a young, largely untapped five-year-old from New Zealand.

Betterzippit made it five wins from just six starts for Grimson when he thrashed a handy field and smashed the clock at Menangle last night.

He won by 13.7m and his 1min48.6sec mile was 0.2sec faster than Catch A Wave clocked to win last month’s Miracle Mile.

“You’ll see the best of him (in Perth) … I can’t see him getting beaten, to be honest,” Grimson said.

That’s a huge call given the depth of quality in the race headed by local trio Magnificent Storm, Diego and Lavra Joe, along with NSW raider and dual Miracle Mile runner-up Spirit Of St Louis.

Magnificent Storm’s 77-year-old trainer Ray Williams said winning the Nullarbor would be “the stuff dreams are made of.”

“It’s the best he’s been in 18 months and it’s not just me who thinks so, Aldo (Cortopassi, driver) says the same,” Williams said.

“For all his talent, he hasn’t been the easiest horse to train at times. It’s actually a bit of a relief to see him get back to winning form even though his three runs this campaign have all been very good.”

“Imagine if at my age I could win a race like the first time it’s run. That would be the stuff dreams are made of.”

Magnificent Storm broke by far the biggest losing streak of his stellar career when he brilliantly won for the first time in seven starts and for the first time this year at Gloucester Park last Friday night.

The six-year-old had never gone more than three runs without winning before the latest streak.

“I was getting sick of blaming bad draws,” Williams laughed. “Seriously though, he’s had a terrible run with draws and even the other night he had to come from outside the front to win.

“You’d like to think it will change soon, hopefully for the Nullarbor, but I’m not holding my breath.

“I’m not asking for a great draw, just not a shocker like he keeps getting.”

Williams confirmed Magnificent Storm would go straight into Friday week’s Nullarbor.

“He’s right where I want him now,” he said. “He was a bit underdone in the Bunbury Cup and that’s why I backed him up six days later to run last Friday.

“But it’s just a matter of keeping where he is now for the Nullarbor. He’ll have a good workout next Saturday, but that’s about it.”

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Australia