Racing: Christen Me too speedy for locals

Dexter Dunn drives Christen Me. File photo / Getty Images

Miracle Mile hero Christen Me is set to sidestep the Auckland summer for a shot at one of the richest seasons ever by a Kiwi pacer in Australia.

The Canterbury flyer was tired but in perfect condition yesterday after his 1:49.1 victory in the A$750,000 mile at Menangle on Saturday night, in which he claimed revenge over his conqueror of last season, Beautide.

Now trainer Cran Dalgety has a smorgasbord of huge-money racing opportunities across the Tasman which will see him divert from his original plan to target Auckland and Cambridge over the new year.

"First up I think we will head to Cranbourne this Saturday," says Dalgety. "It is A$100,000 but the big boys, like Beautide and Guaranteed, aren't going there so we will try and snaffle that one.

"But whatever happens there he will miss the Ballarat Cup a week later and head back home [Christchurch] because he has some really serious stuff coming up. All of which means he will miss the good races at Alexandra Park and Cambridge. As much as we would like to be there, the money in Aussie is too big to pass up."

Christen Me's first aim in the new year will be the A$400,000 Victoria Cup on January 31, followed by the A$400,000 Hunter Cup a week later.

He then has a $50,000 Inter Dominion heat before the A$750,000 final at Menangle, where he has won three of his four starts, on March 1.

That would leave him with the option of returning for the $250,000 Auckland Cup five days later, a turnaround successfully achieved by both I'm Themightyquinn and Terror To Love in the past two years.

That is over $2 million worth of races in just six weeks, a pretty compelling case for Christen Me to be taking things easy over Christmas, rather than racing at The Park.

Not that the 6-year-old is going to be gifted any of those group ones as the Australian circuit has some real depth, with Beautide brave in defeat on Saturday and Guaranteed's star on the rise.

Open class also beckons for the exceptional Philadelphia Man, while Terror To Love will return to Australia for the Victoria-Hunter Cup double.

He was greatly improved on past Menangle performances when coming from last for fourth on Saturday night and may yet get his Australian group one to cap his career.

If Christen Me makes it safely through all that his close relation Adore Me will be at Alexandra Park waiting for him on Auckland Cup night.

"It is incredibly hard racing when you think of all the great horses going around," said Dalgety. "But he has shown he is up to them now and he is handling the rough and tumble a lot better than he did last season.

"The sort of money we are racing for is quite mind-boggling."

Christen Me's 1:49.1 time on Saturday was a staggering 5.3 seconds faster than the mile rate his champion sire, Christian Cullen, paced winning one of the most memorable Miracle Miles in 1998.

That was back at the old saucer-like Harold Park, with the development of Menangle, better track conditioning, sturdier sulkies and more aggressive tactics seeing pacing times plummet in the past five years.