By MICHAEL GUERIN
BRISBANE - It is time for the big boys to put up or shut up.
That is what tonight's $A500,000 Interdominion Pacing Grand Final in Brisbane comes down to. Just who is willing to actually put their horse where their mouth is.
Only twice a year do Australasia's normally conservative harness racing drivers start making outrageous claims. As you probably could have guessed, those two occasions are in Australia.
The first is the Miracle Mile, when talk about who will do what at the start and what sort of mile time is possible dominate pre-race discussions.
The other moment is tonight, because the Interdominion is the greatest hype machine in racing.
In the space of two weeks you throw together the best horses from two countries and let them smash each around over nine heats.
For a horse to even make the final he must win a heat or at least register several placings, meaning all the horses in tonight's final are obviously in form.
That alone gets the horsemen puffing out their chests and cocky.
Throw in the public barrier draw, a half a million bucks and a week of media spotlight and these guys will tell you their horse can lead from the outside barrier draw, run a world record and whistle at the same time.
Harness racing is a rough science dominated by questions like who is going to lead? Will he hand up the front? How fast will they go, meaning do the backmarkers have a chance?
Once one driver declares pre-race he will certainly do this or that his rivals must counter, to ensure they too are factored into the pre-race equation by their rivals. The war off the track is as brutal and a taxing as the one on it.
And leading into tonight's the men behind the favourites have been in vintage form.
After Tuesday's barrier draw rival drivers were thinking favourite Shakamaker would be eased back at the start by driver John Justice because his best performances have been when driven off the pace.
But Justice is insulted by such claims.
"This horse is running times nobody has heard of before," he says.
"We will be going forward, getting the lead and then run them off their feet. Forget any other horse trying to lead. If they can run me down, good luck to them."
Big words from the defending champion and Shakamaker has the ability to back them.
But the man behind his arch-rival Atitagain says it doesn't matter what Shakamaker or any other horse does.
"The draw [barrier seven] doesn't concern me. He will still win," said trainer-driver Dennis Wilson.
"This horse has just jogged his heat wins and you will see something special on Saturday night. He can sit parked and still be the horse to beat."
It isn't just the drivers of the two favourites getting involved.
Interdom chest beating is as common as blondes in Queensland this week.
The connections of big shortener Persistency have already publicly stated he will lead and win.
Courage Under Fire's trainer-driver Brian Hancock says the former champ is better than when he won his two heats.
And even our own Tony Shaw, the country boy from Cambridge, chimed in yesterday by saying Yulestar was working sensationally and would only need luck to be tough to beat.
Which isn't a bad attempt at serious confidence considering the company he is keeping.
So what will be the after-taste of this cocktail of a dozen outstanding horses and their cocky connections?
That is where the put up or shut up part comes into it.
Because whoever wants to win tonight's historic prize will have to back their words.
This race will be won by the driver who does not hesitate; by the man who believes he is on the best horse and drives him accordingly.
Let's examine the evidence.
Justice may be talking the talk with Shakamaker but the fact is in the two biggest races he has had front line draws for in the last year - the Miracle Mile and Interdom Final - he has not driven the big horse hard off the gate.
Deep down inside he knows Shakamaker is better with a sit and that may make him hold back at the start or at least from adopting a lead-and-win-at -all-costs strategy. If he does, it could be his undoing.
The same applies for Gavin Lang on Persistency. Lang is a great driver but rarely an aggressive one. It is hard to see him changing the habit of a lifetime in the race of his life and you have to wonder how Persistency will handle such a change.
Hancock may be in love with Courage Under Fire but the little horse has let him down in every big race they have contested together. It takes more than two heat wins to erase such doubts.
And Shaw on Yulestar.
He knows the giant Hawera pacer can win but he also knows from one on the second line luck will be more important than talent.
That leaves Dennis Wilson and Atitagain. No man since the Lone Ranger has trusted his horse more.
Wilson absolutely, 100 per cent believes he is on the best horse in tonight's Final and will drive him that way.
He may not head straight for the front but at some stage he will take the race by the scruff of the neck. Who will make a decisive move, the sort of move that wins great races.
And he has the tools to work with. Atitagain's three easy heat wins confirmed the Kiwi-bred pacer can sprint or stay and is in the best form of his career.
There will be a dozen drivers on that track tonight hoping they win. There will be six who think they can. There will only be one who is convinced he will.
That is why Atitagain and Dennis Wilson are who you should put your money on tonight.
Racing: Time to shut up and put up
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