MULTIPLE country cups winner Our Millionaire added another to his collection with a brilliant victory in the $35,000 Group 3 3SH Swan Hill Pacing Cup on Friday night.
Our Millionaire, trained at Cardigan by Emma Stewart and driven by champion reinsman David Moran, is a six-year-old Million Dollar Cam-Rarified Air stallion raced by a large syndicate of friends. It began with a wing on every foot from gate five to quickly lead by a big margin as the mobile pulled away.
Vanquish Stride (gate 2) did all the chasing, with Kosimo three pegs from the pole and the Noel Watson-owned Torrid Saint four back along the markers from a solo second line draw. Blitzern (gate 3), a semi-stablemate of the winner, led up the outside division with outsider Velox Equus one-one and Like A Wildfire, another stablemate of the winner, at the tail.
Allowed to lead throughout the race, Our Millionaire ran his rivals ragged in a blistering mile rate of 1:56.3, slashing a full second off Menin Gate’s cup record of 1:57.3 set in 2018.
A game run by Blitzern got it home second ahead of local hope Torrid Saint, who finished a nose away third after using the sprint lane from three back on the pegs on the home turn. Kosimo ahead of him had eased away from off the leaders back in the last lap and locked wheels with Like A Wildfire (three wide) in the last lap, the pair coming to a standstill.
The win provided Moran with back-to-back wins, after Moran piloted former Wood Wood local Greg Fleming’s three-year-old gelding Red Hot Assassin home to win the Laser Electrical Pace over 2240m.
Fleming, who now trains at Moorilim and with Moran has put together a handy team, would have been well pleased with his return to his former home track.
Red Hot Assassin was taken back to the rear of the field from gate 5 as Anotherbigman led from gate 4. Sent forward to race in the open from the bell, Red Hot Assassin was too strong at the end, recording a six-metre win over Rocking Bugatti, who followed him home second. Pole marker Silver Mystique used the sprint lane to finish third, with the race run in a mile rate of 1:57.6.
Supplementing the 10-event card, where fast times were the order of the night, was the $14,000 Peter Walsh MP Swan Mile Pace over 1609m.
Another of the Stewart team, The Raconteur, was victorious in a new track record of 1:52.3. With Leigh Sutton in the pilot’s seat, The Raconteur raced uncovered from gate 3 from outside pole marker Sammys Ideal and proved too strong for his rivals to score, registering a 2m win over Im Shadow Boxer, which followed the leader from inside the second line.
The Ranconteur took 0.1 seconds off the track record set by The Storm Inside in 2019.
Stewart ended with four wins for the evening after four-year-old mare So Art I took the third race on the card and Spring Blue claiming victory in the penultimate race.
There was a nervous wait for Stewart and the connections of So Art I, who had to survive a lengthy protest from runner-up Daylight At Dawn, but ultimately got the nod.
Janet Exell and Declan Murphy combined to claim victory in the opening race with Areuohkay beating home the Michael Gadsden-trained Markleigh Caz. The Murphy name was again up in lights half an hour later, with trainer-driver combination David and Brent taking out the 3SH Morning Rush pace with Isabella Princess.
David and Brent Murphy also combined to claim victory in the fourth event of the evening, with Iron Chariot winning the Elders Pace.
Last-start Swan Hill winner Crompton Bay doubled up on his return to the track, claiming the Central Murray Live Pace Final for trainer Ricky Ryan.
The final race of the evening – the Mixx FM 3YO pace – went the way of Quartzite, who beat home the Joe Costa-trained Bella Abby and the Tony Calabria-trained Rubio.
