Racing: Family hoodoo strikes again as Pay Me Christian third

MELBOURNE - The family Derby curse is haunting Pay Me Christian.

The glamour Kiwi colt was a luckless third to Divisive in Saturday's A$125,000 Victoria Derby after getting locked away on the markers and not getting clear until it was too late to matter.

That left bookies beaming and trainer Paul Kerr wincing as his million-dollar baby suffered his second Derby defeat of the season.

Pay Me Christian was checked out of the Great Northern Derby in December after also getting locked away on the markers and his Derby experiences are starting to mirror his champion sire Christian Cullen.

One of the greatest 3-year-olds to ever race, Christian Cullen never won a Derby.

He was an incredible third to Holmes D G in the Great Northern Derby and was a red hot pre-post favourite for the New Zealand Derby until an injury a week before the classic ruled him out.

Remarkably for a horse who nearly contested the Miracle Mile as a 3-year-old he couldn't even win his age group honours as Holmes D G went on to win four Derbys and the title.

Things haven't become quite that bad for Pay Me Christian yet as he still has the New Zealand Derby on his programme but he, through no fault of his own, missed a golden opportunity on Saturday night.

Had Pay Me Christian drawn the front line he would have almost certainly have strolled to the lead and won the classic but after starting from one on the second line he ended up trailing second favourite Divisive.

That looked ideal for the first 400m of the race until Divisive's driver, Peter Rixon, handed the lead to I Am Sam, putting Pay Me Christian three deep. That left Divisive to claw his way to a passing lane win over I Am Sam while Pay Me Christian jogged into third once he finally got clear.

"It is disappointing but that is racing and there is nothing we can do about it," said Kerr.

"I think he lost no respect or credibility tonight because people never got a chance to see what he can do."

Pay Me Christian will now come home to prepare for the New Zealand Derby while his long-term aim is the Miracle Mile in November.

A rival there could be Divisive, who gave New South Wales its first Victoria Derby winner in 14 years and is one of the more exciting young pacers Australia has produced in a decade after winning the Breeders Crown last season.

New Zealand's other Derby starter, Tuherbs, finished well back after not getting much racing room but still racing well below his best.

The decisions of Pay Me Christian's driver, David Butt, to stay on the rails and of eventual winner Divisive's trainer, Peter Rixon, to hand over the lead from his inside barrier proved critical.

"I really planned to hold the lead, but I changed my plans because I didn't expect him [Pay Me Christian] to be there," Rixon said.

Once in the home straight, Divisive pushed sharply into the sprint lane and managed to just run down I Am Sam.

Rixon said it was a gamble to take a sit with Divisive.

"I wasn't sure if we would be able to sprint past him [I Am Sam] in the straight.

"I really thought Pay Me Christian would be in the running line and I would be holding the lead. So I hadn't thought about this scenario."