We all knew Aussies could talk but they have really excelled themselves this week.
Every year the Miracle Mile brings out the best in Australia's leading horsemen.
With only six runners chasing $400,000 - and with barrier draws and tactics crucial - the drivers behind the big six don't miss any opportunity to try to intimidate.
But this week the hype machine has been in danger of exploding.
Interdominion king Brian Hancock started the ball rolling, obviously peeved at the criticism Courage Under Fire has been under since joining his stable
Courage Under Fire won the Newcastle Mile in 1:54.6 last start but two defeats in Queensland before that race have critics suggesting the former Kiwi champ is not the horse he used to be.
After drawing barrier five in tomorrow night's Sydney sprint Courage Under Fire is only third favourite with local bookies and Hancock says that is a joke.
"I have got the best horse in the race, no doubts," said Hancock.
"Sure the draw is a concern but he is good enough to overcome it. On what this horse has shown me since Newcastle I think he is on the verge of something special, and that something could be this Friday."
But Hancock's claims of having the best horse in the race make Shakamaker's trainer John Justice laugh.
"There is no way Brian can say that. Shaka is undoubtedly the horse to beat," said Justice.
"He has the best record, the best form and the best draw of the big three.
"From barrier four I have options whereas Courage Under Fire and Atitagain don't."
Justice has dismissed rumours of a leg problem for Shakamaker but does admit the Interdom champ had a minor health scare last week.
"I think his win in the Legends Mile might have flattened him because he didn't work that well last Wednesday. I took a blood test and it showed he was a touch off colour but we got him fixed up and he worked a lot better last Saturday.
"He is the one they are all scared of, no matter what they say."
Desperate not to be left out of the chest-beating contest is Dennis Wilson, trainer-driver of Atitagain, who is prepared to go even further than Hancock and Justice.
Atitagain has not raced since pacing his last mile in 1:55 to win the Australian Pacing Championship at Albion Park last month but Wilson says he is flying in his lead-up work.
"He has had two trials in the last two weeks and he is working so well it really is scary," said Wilson, who drove Zyuganov Leis in the New Zealand Cup last week.
Wilson says his travels with Zyuganov Leis and Atitagain put him in the best position to rate the Miracle Mile field.
"Because I have two open-class horses I have seen every major race on both sides of the Tasman so far this season and that is why I know Atitagain is the horse to beat.
"If you put Atitagain in Courage Under Fire's position in the Newcastle Mile he would have won a lot easier. If you give him Shakamaker's run in the Legends Mile he would have been more convincing.
"And give him Yulestar's run in last week's New Zealand Cup and be would have bolted in," said Wilson.
Now that is some pretty powerful chest-beating. But wait, even the little fellas want to get involved.
Chris Alford, the driver of Tailamade Lombo, said the mare was the best she had ever been and she could cross sole Kiwi hope Holmes D G by two lengths at the start.
"If the mobile barrier goes as fast as it did last week in the heats then Holmes D G will get left behind by two lengths at the start," said Alford, even though Holmes D G easily led into the first bend on his way to winning last year's Mile.
And leading Victorian reinsman Brian Gath, best known to Kiwis for his staggering drive behind Chokin in the 1991 Miracle Mile, is even declaring war with rank outsider Ablazin Star, drawn barrier six.
"We will be going out of the gate and keeping on going because he can't outsprint these horses. He has to get handy and make it tough on them."
But while the big statements have been flying around Australia this week, one subject most of the horsemen are not discussing is the effect of security guards placed on the horses 48 hours before the race.
That will ensure no illegal substances are administered to the six runners, proving a level playing field and making the Miracle Mile one of the fairest feature races in Australia.
The security guards have played their part before, with the Miracle Mile notorious for form reversals and horses from certain stables performing well below their best.
The guards are also one of the key reasons New Zealand pacers have dominated the Miracle Mile like no other races in Australia.
Now maybe if the men in the middle were willing to talk so openly about that subject we would all be a lot closer to picking the winner.
Racing: Verbal volcano erupts as Mile nears
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