Jack is delighted with Max

Nathan Jack believes millionaire pacer Max Delight (Bettors Delight) sits high on the list of Len Smith Mile combatants after the David Aiken trained eight-year-old completed a hat trick of harness racing wins at Menangle.

Max Delight was the first horse to find the pegs however Jack elected to surrender the front running to Taipo with the $2.70 favorite Captains Knock relegated to three back along the pegs.

Jack angled back to the inside on straightening and Max Delight ($3.90) showed there is still plenty of zest in the aging legs spearing through to grab Taipo over the concluding stages to score by two metres with Captains Knock close up third.

The winner ran the flying mile in a time of 1:50.1.

Jack said Max Delight deserves the opportunity to add to his $1.13m stakes bankroll.

“On his form he should one of the first horses picked for the Len Smith Mile,” Jack said.

Jack believes Max Delight has approached peak form in recent weeks.

“Older horses go through these spurts and I could tell in the warm up that he was going to be hard to beat,” he said.

“He felt like a beast tonight.”

MAX DELIGHT REPLAY

Jack said it made little difference to the result by switching back to the inside of Taipo in the home stretch.

“The way he went it didn’t matter if I had gone to the inside or outside,” he said.

Jack acknowledged the training feat of the Sydney based Aiken in returning Max Delight to his best.

“David has had a long history of getting these older horses to keep competing at the highest level and he has the knack of getting the best out of them,” he said.

The win was Max Delight’s 31st career success from his 120 race starts

For complete race results, click here.

by John Dunne, for Harnesslink