Also set to be a winner is the Barry Purdon/Scott Phelan stable, who have been the undoubted stars of this new harness racing renaissance.
They have won plenty of major races, including the $1 million Race by Grins with Merlin, which helped them earn over $3m in domestic stakes, remarkably a domestic record for Hall of Fame trainer Barry Purdon in his storied career.
Purdon has had bigger seasons before if you count his Australian exploits but this year stands above all others at home, even dating back to when he and his late father Roy completely ruled the code.
The numbers are stunning: Purdon and Phelan have trained a winner every 3.7 starters, including Group 1s, with everything from veteran open-class pacer Mach Shard to juvenile trotter Meant To Be.
Both race tonight and while the stable only has starters in four of the $100,000 races, their horses being too good for the lower grade races, they are favoured to win all four.
Their night starts with Meant To Be (R3, No 8), our best 2-year-old trotter but one still prone to letting his concentration drift.
“He seems to have come back from Christchurch really well so we expect him to race up to his peak,” says Phelan.
They may have the most talented horse in the next in filly Youretheonethatiwant (R4, No 3) with I Got Chills and Confederate but the filly can be tricky and awkward at times, something she overcomes with brilliant late surges.
Tonight she has barrier three under the preferential draw and if she shows gate speed she is the one to beat but her male rivals won’t make it easy on her, with the emerging Chase Me her greatest danger.
There should be no such concerns about Duchess Megxit using her draw (3) in the stacked 3-year-old pace because while she has been most dazzling when driven with a sit she has reeled off a ballistic 53.8 second last 800m when leading over a sprint trip.
“She can do it either way and she is holding her form great, as we all saw last Friday,” says Phelen in reference to her Queen Of Hearts stunner.
If the race does get run upside down and suit the swoopers the stable are still the ones to beat with Better Knuckle Up and Jeremiah their next two best chances.
The race with the most moving parts for the stable is the main aged pace in which they have Invisible, shock Taylor Mile/Messenger winner Mach Shard and most importantly Sooner The Bettor.
The latter is a super sprinter and finished second to Leap To Fame in the Miracle Mile in March, so if he can cross to the lead early from barrier six, he should win.
But there is plenty of gate speed on the front line and it is a race that quickly could become more complicated than it looks.
Tonight’s huge Alex Park meeting is complemented at the other end of the country with the $100,000 Invercargill Cup featuring Republican Party, Mo’Unga and the big summer mover so far in Rakero Rebel.
How to tackle Golden Gait night
1: Duchess Megxit (R6, No 3): Draw suggests she should lead and be too fast so is your multi anchor.
2: Meant To Be (R3, No 8): Big brute still learning but if he behaves if the other multi anchor.
3: Pantani (R5, No 11): Has been really hit and miss but if he trots throughout his $7 price will be overs.
4: Diamonds Are Forever (R2, No 4): Hasn’t won for a long time but has gate speed and perfect drawn in the beautiful battler’s race.
5: Sans Au Revoir (R10, No 8): No form but has been in far stronger fields and big driver change with Greg Sugars on board.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
