KEY POINTS:
Australian-owned and New Zealand-trained Flashing Red showed incredible courage to win the $750,000 New Zealand Trotting Cup for the second year running at Addington today.
Flashing Red, the oldest horse in the field at age 10, defied a 15 metre handicap and a wide run to outstay Monkey King and Tribute in a time of three minutes 57.08 seconds over the 3200 metres, breaking the national record by 1.4secs.
Monkey King looked to have the edge with 50m to run, but Flashing Red kept responding to Anthony Butt's urgings to land the cup by a neck, with Tribute half-a-length away third.
Favourite Changeover led early, but yielded the lead to Classic Cullen and when that horse started to feel the pinch approaching the turn, he was left with an impossible task but sprinted home well for fourth.
Flashing Red, who won the Auckland Cup in March, is trained in Queensland by Stu Hunter, who shares in his ownership, but has been in the stable of Tim Butt and Phillip Anderson for his New Zealand campaigns.
Flashing Red paid $23.40 for the win.
- NZPA
