Racing: Cog turns smoothly in Mile

Richard Collett and Shane Hapeta have achieved the impossible with Cog Hill - winning $350,755 with a sprinter-metric miler racing solely in New Zealand.

But they've almost certainly hit the wall.

Winning yesterday's $100,000 Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie with 56.5kg has left them nowhere to hide.

"There is the Thorndon Mile at Trentham, but the weight now has put us out of business," said Richard Collett.

There is an obvious target - the A$1 million Stradbroke Handicap in Brisbane mid-year and if you want to know what Leith Innes' vote would be, it's yes.

Innes was in raptures after Cog Hill managed to get the lead close to the finish then hold out dead-heaters La Sizaranne and Rags To Riches.

"No other horse could have won that," said Innes.

"I was just about to let the brakes off in the home straight and the gap closed. I had to ease back and go around them.'

Innes thought the racing luck was going to cost him the race, but it may not have been as bad as he thought - the way Rags To Riches flashed home it might have left Cog Hill vulnerable if he'd got to the lead earlier under his weight.

It is a wonderful training feat to take the $250,000 Couplands Bakeries Mile at Riccarton and the $100,000 Rich Hill Mile in one preparation and Collett will take his luck from here even if it means missing the Thorndon Mile.

"We've won the ones we wanted."

Cog Hill looked in magnificent condition in yesterday's parade.

He must have looked good to his six owners, who picked him up for just $25,000 in the Karaka sale ring.

One of the six, retired baker Gerald Shand, is involved in both galloping and harness - his good pacer Mr Bojangles had no luck at Alexandra Park on Saturday.

Asked how many horses he races, Shand put his hands in the air.

"My son asked me that the other day - I said I had no idea."

If the betting had reopened at the 300m, Alonzo would have come up at $1.50.

The big bloke loomed up and took the lead and looked certain to win, his fading to a close fourth perhaps attributable to the fact that he had no previous experience at the top level at carnival racing.

Kristov and Lisa Cropp had no luck, something that had to fall their way to be competitive under 58kg clear topweight.

Kristov was uncharacteristically slow leaving the gates and had to work hard to get handy.

He was no chance after sitting three wide and that effort can be completely wiped from the memory bank.