By MICHAEL GUERIN
Noel Taylor would have approved.
On Friday night the race Taylor saved will be the highlight of one of the best nights of racing in Auckland this season.
The Rowe Cup carnival starts at Alexandra Park on Friday night and it brings together a stunning array of standardbred talent.
Lyell Creek and the great trotters will be there, New Zealand's best juvenile pacers and a strong crop of 3-year-old trotters. But the highlight will be the 4-year-olds in the Taylor Mile.
Noel Taylor won't be there to see it though. He died last October leaving behind an army of friends in the harness racing industry.
But for this race, his race, to be at the centre of such a night of racing would have meant so much to the former Auckland Trotting Club president.
The Taylor Mile has always been a great race, bringing together the cream of 4-year-old talent, a mixture of proven open class stars and those ready to take the step into the elite grade.
In the last 10 years the national mile record has been lowered four times in the Taylor Mile.
But it was so easily a race that could have disappeared or at least become an afterthought. In 1992 when the former sponsors pulled out of the race the Mile was in jeopardy. Taylor opened his cheque book and climbed into the breach.
Since then great horses have won the race in great times, including Scuse Me's 1:53.5 national record.
And now, even after he has passed way, Taylor is still giving. The trustees of his estate have this season boosted the stake for Friday night's event to $75,000, ensuring it will retain its group two status.
Their generosity doesn't stop there. They yesterday announced the sponsorship of a junior drivers series for the next three years, starting with four races at Alexandra Park this winter.
It will not be the first time the Taylor name has been behind a series aimed at keeping young people in the industry by giving them something to aim at, having previously sponsored a trials-based junior driving series.
On Friday night a good horse will win this great race on a special night of harness racing.
It is shame the man who helped to keep the dream alive won't be here to see it.
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As expected the barrier draw has gone a long way to deciding favouritism for the Taylor Mile, with Mac De Stroyer now guaranteed that honour.
The class eight pacer has drawn the ace from where he is a certain early leader, while boom pacer Classic Turbo, who won at the Pukekohe workouts on Sunday, has a tricky second line draw.
The race has attracted three southerners and the Australia-based Jolly Knight.
The latter has been campaigning mainly in Queensland over the summer for Taranaki trainer-driver Laurence Fleming.
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The Butt family didn't fare too well in yesterday's barrier draws.
Unbeaten juvenile City Rogue, trained by Robin Butt and driven by son David, has drawn the inside of the second line in the $75,000 Juvenile Championship.
He is joined on the second line by Parisian Falcon, both facing the daunting task of giving the greatly-improved Matai MacKenzie a start after he drew barrier two.
But the three freshman stars will not have to outstay outstanding filly Tiger Turner, who is being allowed to miss the feature because of the busy feature race programme she has ahead.
While City Rogue had no luck with the draw, neither has another Butt-trained superstar in Lyell Creek.
The Tim Butt-trained freak will also start from the second line in the 2200m trotting free-for-all which should provide him with one of his toughest tests of the season.
Making life even harder for the champ will be the north's leading trotters Mountain Gold, Special Force, Sundon's Way and Buster Hanover all drawing the front line. Buster Hanover will be driven for the first time by Tony Shaw, taking over from Tony Herlihy who is the new driver for Mountain Gold.
The south's rising trotting star One Kenny is also in the $25,000 event but will start from the unruly.
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Former Rowe Cup winner Merinai is out of the carnival.
Trainer John Bedwell has withdrawn the 1998 winner from the meeting after she appeared to have problems handling the bends when resuming last Thursday night.
Her problems indicated to Bedwell Merinai may have been feeling the effects of an old pedal bone injury.
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The Auckland Trotting Club received a timely boost last Thursday.
With the second biggest meeting of the year upon them, off-course turnover at last Thursday's meeting was well over the $1million mark.
That included huge betting interest in the final race won by Mike's Pal. The race attracted the highest turnover of any harness race last week, with more punter interest than the big mares clash between Kym's Girl, Under Cover Lover and Hawera at Addington 24 hours later.
Racing: Feast of talent fitting legacy for Noel Taylor
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