Queen Elida ID23 Night 3 Photo by Dan Costello
A TOUCH of the Inter Dominion comes to Bendigo's Cup meeting on Saturday night.
Two of Australia's best trotters, Queen Elida and Mufasa Metro, who ran third and second in the recent Brisbane Inter Dominion final, headline the field for the Group 1 Maori Trotters' Mile.
The pair will enjoy not having dual Inter Dominion winner Just Believe to contend. He won't be seen again until the Dullard Cup at Melton on January 27.
Queen Elida's trainer, Brent Lilley, said Victoria's unseasonably cool weather has been a godsend after oppressive conditions during the 15-day Brisbane Inter Dominion series.
"There's no doubt the heat got to her and plenty of other horses, too," Lilley said.
"That final night (December 16) was incredibly hot, and that came when they were racing for the fourth time in 15 days."
"She took quite a while to recover. We gave her a few washdowns after it."
"I'm not sure I'll be rushing back up to race in Brisbane at that time of year again."
Lilley said it was a welcome luxury to be able to fly Queen Elida back to Melbourne, and the six-year-old mare has thrived since returning home.
"It was about five hours from the stables we stayed at in Brisbane to her stall at home," he said.
"She's such a great doer, she bounced back straight away. She's ready to go this week."
Queen Elida will be a commanding favourite to win the $75,000 feature from gate four, while Mufasa Metro won't be able to use his greatest weapon – gate speed – from the back row (gate eight).
The fresh players who add plenty to the Maori Mile are Arcee Phoenix (gate two) and Im Ready Jet (six).
While Lilley conceded Just Believe was too good in Brisbane, he's excited rather than daunted by the prospect of Queen Elida meeting him again in next month's Group 1 Great Southern Star.
"There's not as much between them as Brisbane showed. I'd love to draw inside him, and I think we can make a real race of it," he said.
"We'll have this run, then another at Ballarat (January 20) before the Great Southern Star (February 3)."
The depth of the Maori Mile means it actually outshines the $75,000 Bendigo Pacing Cup as the highlight of Saturday night.
Rejuvenated former Victoria Cup winner Max Delight is aiming for a hat trick of wins before his trainer, David Aiken, relocates from Victoria to Menangle.
Premier trainer Emma Stewart has two key runners in Beyond Delight (gate six) and Hurricane Harley (eight).
The emerging Serg Blanco comes into contention from the pole, while evergreen veteran Triple Eight has a chance from barrier three.
Victoria's strong Country Cup circuit will step up another notch when champion Kiwi trainer Mark Purdon takes two of his two stable stars – Akuta and Don't Stop Dreaming - to the Shepparton Cup meeting on Saturday week.
· Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp.
