Victorian harness racing trainer Lance Justice joked on Sunday about the probability of drawing the one barrier position in next Saturday night's A$500,000 SEW Eurodrive Miracle Mile.
In an uncanny turn of events, Justice got his wish with his champion pacer Smoken Up grabbing the one alley at Sunday's function and barrier draw.
"I had a few on about the likelihood that I would draw one, I was just sort of joking around with it but I'm thrilled and it gives him a really good winning chance from there, especially if we can hold the front," Justice said yesterday.
Smoken Up will vie for favouritism with arch rival and West Australian pacing star I'm Themightyquinn, who drew three, while the Luke McCarthy pairing of Mr Feelgood and Franco Jamar fared a little worse, drawing seven and 10 respectively. McCarthy has yet to decide which horse he will drive on Saturday night. The two other Kiwi horses in the field received no luck with the barrier draws either: New Zealand Cup winner Terror To Love drew nine, while Raglan comes into eight.
After the draw, bookmakers still rated Im Themightyquinn as the horse to beat in Saturday's Miracle Mile but the man preparing the West Australian flyer fears Menangle Park specialist Smoken Up.