Two Milers
It seems to be widely accepted that the Country Cups Final the other week was one of the best races witnessed for a long time. Plenty of moves, plenty of pressure, and an exciting finish, albeit slightly tarnished by the stupidity of the winning driver being sanctioned for a victory salute, but that’s another topic.
Our major races for both aged pacers and trotters are 3200m events and hopefully always will be. Why then are Clubs, and presumably HRNZ, so reluctant to stage other long distance races? There is the perception that racing over that extreme distance can take its’ toll on horses and, in some cases, that may be true. However, look at Artatac for instance, who was savaged in the lead in the Country Cups final and stopped, yet a week or so later, ran second. Are we talking the effect on the horses, or are we talking the psychological effect on the trainers?
When our best horses line up in the NZ Cup our Dominion, some of them have never raced over 3200m, partly because they have never been offered the opportunity to do so. How dumb is that? I know our horses are now being bred for speed as opposed to stamina, but I’ve heard trainers say that racing a hard mile at say, Menangle, requires staying ability. So, what’s the difference? Let’s put some variety back into our racing instead of being fed the same old boring sprint mobiles, that’s what has always stood New Zealand harness racing apart from other jurisdictions. In Europe, their trotters race over distances longer than 3200m and they’re not bad!
Pete Cook