Stories: Pacers 2008/2009 Season
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Barastoc Grand Circuit Series Stories: Pacers 2008/2009 Season |
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Staging the $150,000 Wrest Point Tasmania Cup the day after Melbourne’s Victoria Cup gave a whole new field of starters a chance of success on the Barastoc Pacers Grand Circuit, and Victoria’s Bold Cruiser NZ made the most of the opportunity. Many punters took the lead from Bold Cruiser’s regular reinsman, Darryl Douglas, who opted for the drive on stablemate, Megasam NZ. Stable trainer, Glenn Douglas, took the reins to drive the winner. Megasam NZ started at less than half the odds of Bold Cruiser NZ and managed only fifth. The main money on the race suggested it would be a two-horse finish between the visiting Report For Duty NZ (Anthony Butt) and the speedy Penny Veejay (Chris Alford). They did have a great battle, but only for second place, with the much-travelled Bold Cruiser NZ again showing its liking for standing start racing by beating them to the post. Several starts earlier Bold Cruiser NZ had won the standing start $70,000 SEW Eurodrive Kilmore Cup Group 2 event at the big odds of $35. Sunday evening Hobart punters allowed this standing-start specialist to go out at the generous odds of $19. The Bendigo trainer of Bold Cruiser NZ, Glenn Douglas, said after Sunday evening’s victory: “Lots of people probably say how Bold Cruiser wouldn’t be good enough to get a run in the Hunter Cup, but when you look at the Kilmore Cup win and now today’s Tassie Championship, he probably deserves to be there. “He just loves the standing start, always beginning well where he can position himself in a good forward position. All he needs then is a bit of luck. It came tonight, and he did the job well,” he added. Bold Cruiser NZ started from barrier 11 in Hobart, but his quick beginning enabled him to position himself in the first half of the field. |
 Bold Cruiser NZ |
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When the championship was really up for grabs about 250 metres out, Bold Cruiser NZ showed he had plenty left and charged home, running both final quarters in a matching 28.9 seconds. The last half mile of 57.8 seconds is good for a 2579-metre trip, returning a mile rate of 2:03.1 for the entire journey. The sections for the last mile saw the first quarter in a moderate 32.5 seconds, followed by 31.4 with the speed then turned on with 28.9 and 28.9 in the dash for the line. Even Glenn Douglas admitted after the race that Penny Veejay seemed a little unlucky. “Had he got the run Chris Alford wanted in the closing stages, he would have just about beaten my horse. But that’s the way it goes,” he said. By Live Or Die USA from Holmes Dream NZ, the seven-year-old gelding Bold Cruiser NZ is owned by Anderson Racing. It was a good meeting for the stable which also won the Andrew Jones Travel Hobart Cup Prelude with Lenny Bromac NZ, driven by Daryl Douglas after coming off a handicap of 30 metres. There will be a third major staying event to be started from a stand. This is the $400,000 Hunter Cup at Moonee Valley on 7 February, Australia’s biggest staying test for pacers.
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