By Michael Guerin
The quiet man behind Christian Cullen shone as much as the champion pacer at Cambridge last night.
Driver Danny Campbell drove a perfect race on the big horse to bolt away with the $30,000 Waikato Times Flying Mile.
It was Christian Cullen's 13th win in a row and Campbell could be mistaken for having the easiest job in harness racing.
After all, as he sits in the sulky, Christian Cullen screams around tracks all over Australasia and Campbell gets lots of lovely cheques.
But as he has on so many occasions this season, Campbell showed there is a wise head on his narrow shoulders.
After Christian Cullen's stunning Cambridge Classic win of two weeks ago the calls went out that last night's sprint would see him demolish the national mile record.
And with Christian Cullen being a stallion, Campbell could have been excused for getting caught up in the hype and asking the 4-year-old for a gutbuster last night.
But he didn't. After exploding out of the mobile to lead by three lengths after just 200m, Christian Cullen was allowed to cruise through the first 800m in 59.69 seconds.
Then, just like he had in the Miracle Mile three months ago, Campbell plunged the swords into his challengers' hearts with a brilliant next 400m before allowing Christian Cullen to cruise up the straight, winning by three and a half lengths from Brabham.
The pair stopped the clock at a track record 1:54.19, well short of Scuse Me's national record 1:53.5.
But while there is no doubting the record would have been theirs had Campbell wanted it, he knows Christian Cullen starts the toughest fortnight of his life - the Interdominions - at Alexandra Park next Friday.
"He has got a lot of racing ahead of him in the next month and that is why we went out there tonight to win, not to break records," Campbell said.
"It was a great run and shows that he just keeps on improving."
Christian Cullen's effort last night confirms he will go into the Interdominions at his peak and the question of how he will handle four hard races in two weeks appears to be the only cloud on his horizon.
And one he shares with virtually every other horse in the series.
While blown away last night, Brabham impressed when dashing home late along the inside for second. His last 800m was little inferior to the winner's but came after a much easier time early in the race.
Brabham's stablemate Bogan Fella, who is second equal favourite for the Interdominions, also caught the eye when making ground late for third in a race well short of his favourite distance.
Australian challenger Journey's End showed the expected gate speed to trail Christian Cullen early but was left flat-footed when the real speed went on at the 400m and battled into fifth, with Sam Malone just heading him home in a solid effort.
Horse Racing: Christian Cullen and Campbell win again
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