Smoke On The Water too hard core in Cup

Four year old harness racing gelding Smoke On The Water (Art Major) had to be tough today in the $20,000 Tuapeka Lodge Cup and he was just that, when beating Miraculous and Pinseeker.

Trained by Matt Purvis and driven by his brother-in-law Matty Williamson, Smoke On The Water stepped well from the 20 metre mark and was soon in front of fellow backmarkers Miraculous and Pinseeker.

Insarchatwist and Step It Up A Notch took turns up top before noted front runner South Seas Rock came round to take up the lead role.

With 1600 metres to run Williamson came off the inside to form the outside running line with Miraculous and Pinseeker on his tail.

As the field came out of the final bend Smoke On The Water was level pegging with South Seas Rock. As the horse flattened out for the run home Smoke On The Water got to the front but Miraculous came off his back. However the Purvis trained runner was too tough, holding on to win by half a length from Miraculous with Pinseeker finishing third a length and a quarter back.

SMOKE ON THE WATER REPLAY

“It was the first time I’ve driven him. He didn’t get an ideal trip but really gutted it out in that last 100. Matt did say that sometimes when you show him clear air he can overdo it. But today be relaxed beautifully. He put the leader to bed real quick and managed to hold off two nice horses that were on his back,” Williamson said.

The winning time was 3-23.7.

“I thought he was the second best horse in the race outside of Pinseeker. It was a bit of a drop in grade but you’ve still got to do the job.”

The win was the gelding’s eighth in just thirty seven starts and he’s now won three Cups; the Stratford, Hawera and Tuapeka Cups and he’s closing in on $130,000 in stake earnings.

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink