Merlin shows too much muscle

There’s a lot to take from last night’s McMillan Equine Feeds Pacers Flying Mile at the Cambridge harness racing meeting with unlucky runs all over the show. But without doubt Merlin (Art Major) was a deserved winner.

“Yeah, super effort. 1-52 round Cambridge, parked from a wide enough draw, he was working to get there and he held on. I’m super happy and he gives you the feel that he’ll sharpen up and get a little bit better which is always a positive going into a million dollar race. Full credit to the horse. It felt like a 100 out I’d come to the end of my run but he keeps putting that head out and he puts it out at the right time,” driver Zachery Butcher told Trackchat’s Jo Stevens in a perfect summary of Merlin’s great effort.

Trained by Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan, Merlin’s winning margin was a neck from stablemate Sooner The Bettor (Bettor’s Delight) with Don’t Stop Dreaming (Bettor’s Delight) charging home for third half a head away. The winning time was 1-52.1with the last 800 run in 55.5.

“It’s exciting isn’t it. You see all these great horses go round and you get such a tight finish like that. That’s what the spectators are here for and hopefully that’s what we see next week, and I’m the one in front.”

It’s a replay you could watch a few times and ask ‘what if.’  The race was the perfect entrée for The Race By Grins next week and with some fresh Aussie pacers rolling into town, it’s game on.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink