Racing: Battle for Miracle Mile lead

Easy On The Eye is drawn to lead in the Miracle Mile at Menangle on Saturday night. Picture / Christine Cornege

Rival reinsmen will be keeping an eye on former Kiwi pacer as they plan their tactics

Forgotten New Zealand pacer Easy On The Eye all of a sudden holds the key to the A$750,000 Miracle Mile.

As tends to be the case with Sydney's most famous pacing race, the war of words has begun early ahead of Saturday's monster clash.

Christen Me and Terror To Love will represent New Zealand in the Mile, with the former having been heavily backed in Australia since markets opened on Sunday.

However, it is Easy On The Eye who has emerged as a key player in how the Menangle dash for cash will play out.

The former Steven Reid-trained pacer, good enough to finish second in the New Zealand Free-For-All last season, was bought just two months ago by clients of leading New South Wales trainer Shane Tritton, who has a remarkable record with improving horses.

He won a minor race at Newcastle two starts ago and then led before going down to Mile favourite Beautide and Guaranteed last start.

That finish was deemed good enough to earn him a Mile invitation and now he has drawn barrier one, Tritton is declaring he will lead Saturday's race.

"He is super fast off the gate and if he leads we won't be handing up," says Tritton.

"I know Avonnova next to us is a fast beginner but we will hold him and I am 95 per cent sure he will be in front."

While it is still hard to see Easy On The Eye beating the likes of Beautide and Christen Me, his mere presence in the race makes life harder for free-legged pacer Avonnova, who would have loved to have led.

More important will be how things pan out for Easy On The Eye's stablemate Suave Stuey Lombo.

He has paced three of the fastest four miles at Menangle in the past year and if he ran to the front on Saturday night he would take a world of catching.

So is Tritton bluffing, hoping to hold the lead with Easy On The Eye only to hand it over to Suave Stuey Lombo as soon as he can?

Impossible to tell. But any suspicion of that will have rival drivers worried in what could become an expensive game of cat and mouse.

What does look assured is a fast early section of the race, which could easily set up the first sub 1:50 Miracle Mile and that would help the New Zealand pair.

Terror To Love is likely to have to come from last so is deservedly $26 in Australia and even $18 in New Zealand, remarkable odds for a horse who was $2.50 to win the New Zealand Cup just 15 days ago.

Christen Me has been backed in from $5 to $4.50 since the draw came out and he is one of the few New Zealand-trained pacers who actually seems to race better at Menangle.

With the prospect of speed up front, a good draw and his record on the track, he has emerged as Beautide's biggest danger and a good chance to give New Zealand our first Miracle Mile since Monkey King in 2009 and only the second in 14 years.