Racing: NZ Derby winner seeks to emulate sire in Miracle Mile

Paul Kerr is a firm believer in weighing his racehorses because it gives the leading trainer an accurate gauge on the general fitness and perfect bodyweight for each of them.

The Christchurch-based trainer was shocked and had to double check the scales when he weighed champion 3-year-old Pay Me Christian, after an 11-week rest from any exercise, three weeks ago.

The colt tipped the scales at "a tick" over 500kg and Kerr was grinning from ear to ear.

"During his 3-year-old season his ideal racing weight was 450kg, although he dropped down to 430kg when winning the New Zealand Derby. He's come back in a heavy boy but it's not fat - he's muscled up over his rump, back and chest," said Kerr.

"He's grown a couple of inches in height and it just underlines how he had really come to the end of things from a maturity perspective when he won the NZ Derby.

"Not going to Australia to chase other Derby races was the correct decision, because he's come back in looking a different horse."

The colt is into his third week of jogging and could resume racing in the middle of October.

"It's our intention to chase a start in the Miracle Mile in Sydney in November and we'll have him ready for some of the Free-For-All events during the New Zealand Cup meeting.

"I'm keen on the Junior Free-For-All event on (NZ) Cup Day and then we'll be guided by how he performs before making any other decisions."

Pay Me Christian certainly has the breeding, brilliance and career race record for a tilt at the Miracle Mile, despite his relatively young age.

His sire, Christian Cullen, won the Miracle Mile as a 4-year-old, producing the most brutal display of stamina and speed to dismantle the best Free-For-All pacers in Australia.

With a race record of eight wins and one minor placing from 13 starts, Pay Me Christian is developing a daunting reputation as a front runner with a deadly high cruising speed.