Spirit Of St Louis - Ballarat Cup Photo by Stuart McCormick
It is a long way from Paleface Adios' record of seven appearances, but Spirit Of St Louis' third consecutive crack at the $1mil Miracle Mile is a mighty effort.
And trainer Luke McCarthy thinks the ageing marvel can run "a heck of a race" from barrier two.
History says the former Kiwi pacer loves the race, having finished second at his two appearances – to stablemate King Of Swing in 2022 and Catch A Wave last year.
The remarkable Paleface Adios, nicknamed the "Temora Tornado", raced a staggering 240 times for 108 wins and 68 placings.
The first of his seven consecutive Miracle Mile runs was a second to the mighty Hondo Grattan, aka the "Bathurst Bulldog", in 1974.
Paleface Adios won the Miracle Mile on his third attempt in 1976, beating Don't Retreat and Hondo Grattan, and ran another three seconds in 1977, '78 and '79.
In summary, his seven Miracle Mile runs returned a win, four seconds and a third.
"He loves Menangle, especially the mile races," McCarthy said. He also ran second in the Len Smith Mile only a few months ago."
"He ran a great race last week to qualify. He really stuck at it after blasting out early."
"It's great he's drawn well again (gate two), and he should get his chance from there."
"He seems really well. He's been bright around the place and worked well this week."
Regular driver Jack Callaghan is still weighing up his tactics from the draw.
"I think I could lead early if I really wanted to hunt him out, but it's a matter of how much petrol we'd spend doing that," he said.
"Speak The Truth was good last week, and I'll go back and see how much early speed he has because he's drawn inside me."
"Then there's all the speed outside, especially from Hi Manameisjeff."
"I still really like the draw. It gives me options and the old boy gave me a great feel last week."
