By MICHAEL GUERIN
Atitagain has boosted his claims to being the best pacer in Australia as Courage Under Fire has continued his fall from grace.
The pair clashed - if it could be called that - in the $A100,000 Trueur Memorial at Bankstown outside Sydney on Saturday night.
Atitagain held the front from the ace and justified his $1.60 favouritism by effortlessly strolling to an 11m win over stablemate Zyuganov Leis, with Tailamade Lombo fighting on for third.
Atitagain paced the fastest official last 800m on the Bankstown track with a 56.4s sectional, his final 400m in 27.6.
The win comes just eight days after Atitagain was nosed out by Holmes D G in the Miracle Mile, a result being disputed by his owners. A protest hearing will be held at Harold Park tomorrow, but no further action is likely.
The pressure of the Miracle Mile defeat and subsequent protest is clearly getting to Atitagain's trainer Dennis Wilson, who is now refusing to speak to several sections of the Australian harness racing media because of their coverage of the event.
Saturday's win has seen Atitagain shorten even further in long-range markets for the Interdominions, but one horse who is running out of fans for that series is Courage Under Fire.
The age-group champion was a steady fifth on Saturday night after settling back and never getting into the race.
While he was always going to be hard pressed to make ground during such a fast last section of the race, his failure to run past a former Kiwi battler in Clark Gable, who finished fourth, would have been unbelievable a year ago.
Courage Under Fire, who holds the New Zealand record of 24 consecutive wins, now has a formline of 2-8-1-5-5, with the win coming against moderate opposition at Newcastle.
His trainer-driver Brian Hancock faces a difficult decision, whether to press on through the summer with the former rocket or give him a brief let-up and set him exclusively for the Interdominions.
But the sad reality of the situation is that if Courage Under Fire cannot run past some Sydney second-stringers, he is going to need a dramatic form improvement to beat the likes of Yulestar come the summer carnival in Melbourne.
Racing: Atitagain on top as courage fails
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