Blake Fitzpatrick will be chasing his first Miracle Mile victory on Sunday when he partners Lonestar Legend for his father, Paul.
The young reinsman has had two drives in the showpiece race including a second with the Brian Hancock-trained Sand Pebbles five years ago.
"Brian Hancock gave me a great
kick-start by putting me on horses in feature races when I was only young and I got to drive in the Miracle Mile on Selby Bromac and Sand Pebbles," Fitzpatrick said.
"But without a doubt it would be a massive thrill if I could win the race on Sunday driving for Dad."
The Miracle Mile has traditionally been held at Harold Park but will be run at Menangle for the first time this year.
Fitzpatrick believes the shift could prove a major advantage to local drivers.
"It is quite different from driving on any other track and it took everyone a while to work out how to drive it," he said.
"We have the added bonus of being only 20 minutes from Menangle while all the other runners will be forced to travel in the lead-up so that could play into our hands as well."
Fitzpatrick is yet to devise tactics for Sunday's race, but said Lonestar Legend had the speed to lead from his inside draw.
The former American pacer was a controversial inclusion in the elite Miracle Mile field after being beaten in the Newcastle Mile this month.
But Fitzpatrick is adamant he deserves his spot. "This week is a big step up but his effort at Newcastle was the run of the race.
"With the false start he got extremely fired up and I couldn't have held him even if I had wanted to.
"He had crossed them by the time we travelled 50 or 60m and he never really backed off."
- AAP
