By Michael Guerin
For a quiet guy Mark Purdon is pretty hard to ignore at the best of times - tonight he will be impossible.
The training guru routinely dominates Alexandra Park meetings but he can take that to a whole new level tonight.
Because these are the Interdominions and Purdon is set to own them.
If the all-mile final round of heats are being billed as a speed explosion then Purdon will be the one lighting the fuse.
He is a realistic chance to win four of the seven heats with an each-way hope in another.
And while he isn't the sort of guy to go around making rash statements, or many statements for that matter, even he admits he expects to go home with at least a few more Interdom heat wins to his name tonight.
Purdon should win the TAB double legs with Brabham and Bogan Fella, holds a mortgage on the sixth trotting heat with Sundon's Way and Sunny Action while Africa looks the biggest threat to hot favourite Special Force in the earliest trotting heat.
But they are not the wins that would mean the most to him.
Because in the seventh trotting heat Purdon gets his last chance to bring champion mare Pride Of Petite back a winner.
The two-time Interdom champ is expected to be retired after next week's Grand Final yet that is a race she probably can't win.
Tonight's heat is a different story. With a good barrier draw over her favoured short distance tonight she can add one more win to her incredible record.
"I think she will lead and take a lot of beating from there because she went a great race on Tuesday," said Purdon.
While a Pride Of Petite victory would give the carnival a much-needed boost, Purdon's will bring such a dream team to tonight's meeting the great mare doesn't rate in his three best winning chances.
"Brabham would be my best," said Purdon.
"He didn't have a lot of luck when he got a couple of slight checks on Tuesday night but I think he should lead and will be very hard to run down," said Purdon.
He also expects to find the all-important lead with Sunny Action in the first leg of the TAB treble and with the mare having a fine sprint record she could upset more favoured stablemate Sundon's Way.
"Sunny Action is very fast out of the gate and I think she will lead. If she does then Sundon's Way could have his work cut out beating her," he said.
But the race that is going to attract the most attention tonight is the mini-Grand Final, the clash between series favourites Bogan Fella and Sir Vancelot.
Different race, same script.
While Bogan Fella is not a natural miler the weak front line in the race should enable him to work his way to the front or dictate the tactics from the parked out position.
From there Aussie hero Sir Vancelot will have to cover extra ground over the last 800m to run him and down and Purdon admits he is confident of success.
"Bogan Fella has drawn a little wide but he is going very well at the moment and I really have no choice but to press forward at the start," said Purdon.
"I have a lot of respect for Sir Vancelot but if my horse can lead I think we will beat him."
Purdon is least confident with Africa tonight after the former southern mare slightly disappointed on Tuesday night.
She doesn't look ideally suited by the mile tonight and with Special Force sure to try for an all the way win, Africa could need something special to give Purdon a chance at what would be an incomprehensible five heat wins in one night.
The crumbs from Purdon's table could be picked by two of his borders for the carnival - Robert Cameron and Brian Hancock.
Cameron's comeback star Iraklis should win the first pacing heat even from his poor draw while Hancock could use Quantum Lobell's gate speed to advantage in the final heat.
Quantum Lobell seems to have lost the ability to run past good hortses at the end of his races but his Australia's fastest race miler and won't find a race more to his liking.
Still, once horses stop winning they are always worth betting against so Breeny's Fella and Surprise Package could be better value.
If Breeny's Fella does win it could spark an interesting family feud.
He has been perfectly guided through the heats by Craig Demmler, whose father Ted trains the pacer. Demmler senior retured from disqualification last week and has indicated he will be driving Breeny's Fella in next Friday's Grand Final.
But Craig was still confident yesterday that his handling of the gelding during the series could secure him the Grand Final drive.
As the trainer, and father, your money would be on Ted Demmler to win this war but posession is nine-tenths of the law - a win tonight and Craig may hold on to the hot seat.
Horse Racing: Purdon miles ahead of rivals
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