The sun is setting and Purdon could be in for a Dream farewell

Harness racing’s home of the stunning sunsets may be witnessing another one on Saturday night, but this time on the track.

Unless you have been to the circuit on the outskirts of Melbourne you probably can’t appreciate just how wonderous a show Mother Nature puts on at Melton, with the sky often a postcard-like canopy of orange off to the west as day becomes night.

It provides one of the most picturesque backdrops in world racing for a few minutes on a summer Saturday, but tomorrow there will be another sun starting to set.

That is on the career of the greatest to ever do this training and driving thing: Mark Purdon.

Don’t worry, Purdon isn’t going anywhere. He is healthy and hearty, still the owner of a chuckle more likely to come out of a happy baby than a racing legend thinking about life after 60.

He and son/training partner Nathan have Dont Stop Dreaming (Bettor’s Delight) in the $500,000 SENTrack A G Hunter Cup, but he faces a second line draw and Leap To Fame, a recipe that doesn’t cook you up another Grand Circuit win no matter how good the chef.

“He is a really good horse and still getting used to open class, but the draw doesn’t help for sure,” says Purdon.

Not that Purdon wears each victory or defeat on his sleeve these days. Just this week he was told his best pacer Akuta – maybe the most talented in New Zealand – will miss all of 2024 after a track work accident.

Been there, done that, life goes on.

But life is changing. Purdon has been at the head of harness racing for so long now it is hard to imagine the industry without his ironclad grip on the top spot in anybody’s “Best 10 Trainers” list.

Now the man with nothing left to prove wants to explore other areas of racing, and is dipping his toes into the thoroughbred world.

He has four gallopers in work and finds the buzz and momentum of the industry in New Zealand energising.

“I will eventually be spending more time with the gallopers than the harness horses, which Nathan will train and I can be more in the background,” says Purdon, who admits he has a long way to go to be the next Waller or Moody.

“But I can still drive and help out.”

Don’t be fooled into thinking Purdon is a spent force. Far from it.

He is at his most dangerous this week, one-on-one with a good horse, and Dont Stop Dreaming could shine with the Purdon polish.

Catch it while you can, the sun is setting.

by Michael Guerin, for Harness Racing Victoria