Adelaide 1997 - Trotters Series

1997 Trotters Series
Globe Derby, Adelaide

1997 Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Series $100,000 Heats: 5, 8 March 1997 Final: 15 March 1997
Handicap racing from standing starts has from the earliest days of harness racing in Australia been the accepted, though often criticised, method of starting races. The coming of the mobile barrier was welcomed by the majority in pacing, but with a far lesser pool of trotters from which to draw upon, handicapped racing from a stand remained the popular form of racing in Victoria, South Australia and NSW -- the only States where squaregaiters are still catered for. Discretionary handicapping has always had its critics, and no doubt always will, because after all it is a matter of opinion and owners and trainers are forever hoping of beating the handicapper. If there is one thing to be learned from the handicappers of years ago, it is that the most satisfactory way of allocating discretionary marks should be attempted only after deciding the backmarker(s), then working through to the front. Handicapping from the front to a backmark will invariably lead to unfair marks The Australasian Trotting Championship has traditionally brought the leading trotters to the Melbourne summer carnival as a stepping stone to the trotters' section of the Inter Dominions. When handicaps were announced for the ATC this past February there were immediate cries of disappointment from trainers of backmarkers for the heats of 2840m and the $125,000 final over 3280m. The most vocal of the trainers were Mark Purdon (Pride of Petite USA) off 50m, and the two trainers off 40m, Graeme Lang (Wagon Apollo) and Donny Hayes (Chiola Cola NZ). "We may as well pack our bags and go home," cried Hayes when the handicaps were released at the end of January. "Chiola Cola NZ will be flat out to even qualify for the final from 40 metres, and to have any chance in the big race you will need to break world records off such marks." Purdon was also visibly upset when he waded into the debate. "I'll say this much, if I owned the mare, she would be going straight back to New Zealand and put in a good paddock. She seems to be racing better than ever, but off 50 metres she is unlikely to win a race here this trip," claimed the Auckland horseman. Lang showed his frustration when he said: "If I'd done the handicaps, Pride of Petite USA would be the backmarker off only 30 metres. It is outrageous she is on 50 metres and my horse off 40 metres." Lang claimed this way of handicapping was encouraging mediocrity.		Pride Of Petite USA - 1997 Inter Dominion Trotting Champion

One lone media voice to support the tough backmarks was Melbourne form analyst, radio and TV tipster Bill Hutchison. When colleagues were roundly criticising the handicaps, Hutchison predicted the backmarkers would prove themselves to be equal to their tough assignments. He did not have to wait long to see these comments prove correct. Pride Of Petite USA made a mockery of the widespread criticism of her backmark in an unsuited distance of 2380m in her first heat, setting a new track record to boot. That night she was also driven for the first time by Purdon's brother Barry, who said later: "That was some kind of experience. It was incredible how quickly and easily she put herself into the race around the final bend before pulling away in the home straight."

It was the kind of performance trotsgoers 20 years ago would have expected of the great Maori's Idol. Though Pride Of Petite USA could hardly be placed in the same category as this legendary performer who had beaten the top pacers of its day, the mare had proven herself to be outstanding, earning her tough backmark. Inter Dominion handicaps were not quite so severe, though the smaller Globe Derby Park track would compound problems for those out the back. Pride of Petite USA was the lone backmarker off 40m. In the final of the Australasian Championship the mare did have her colours lowered, but this was due to the emergence of a trotter that would soon have trotsgoers amazed by its newly found ability.

In the previous season Knight Pistol had started 19 times for just one placing, earning in 1995/96 a total of only $1050. It had over six years been trained out of several stables before being sent to Peter Manning to be prepared for racing in 1996/97. What Knight Pistol would achieve later in the season seems quite unbelievable, with that victory in the Australasian Trotters Championship being merely the first major step on the road to world acclaim.

Timing is always important when preparing a horse to be at its best for the big races. Had the Inter Dominion Trot been held later in the season, it would have been an entirely different matter. When Knight Pistol was handicapped off the front for the Adelaide series, this 'long-toothed' nine-year-old was still very much in the early stages of its remarkable resurgence. The Inter Dominion handicaps were announced by mid-January, too late for the handicapping panel to have recognised and accepted the sudden improvement of Knight Pistol. But the astute Graeme Lang, Victoria's master trainer of the trotter, had seen what many to then had not. When asked to comment on the handicaps for the Inter Dominion a week after Knight Pistol had won the Australasian title when racing off the front, he did not hold back his punches, stating how officials in Adelaide had got it horribly wrong now that this horse had got under their guard. "The fact the horse wasn't penalised for winning the richest trotting race in Australia at its latest start is amazing."

This opinion was shared by Mark Purdon, who pleaded with the owners of Pride of Petite USA to scratch the backmarker. This had followed the ruling of South Australian stewards to keep the handicaps as they were. Chairman of stewards, Des Jones, explained how there had been a lot of early betting on the series, and it was felt the handicaps should not be changed. Lang countered this by pointing out it was like a horse winning the Caulfield Cup with a light weight and not being penalised for the Melbourne Cup. Since the handicaps had first been released by Jones, Knight Pistol had now won four races with two seconds for $117,000. It was already a vast improvement on those 19 starts the previous season for one placing.

FIRST NIGHT

Inter Dominion trotting heats were held over the short distances of 2230m on the night of March 5, with the imported Holdonmyheart USA (via New Zealand) off the front coming up against the well performed but now oldstager Diamond Field NZ (30m) and Pride Of Petite USA (40m). Raced in the same interests as the imported pacer Island Glow USA, Holdonmyheart USA (Valley Victory-Lovelorn) had displayed promising form in a handful of starts in New Zealand on its way to Adelaide. The five-year-old stallion trotted stylishly throughout to draw first blood.

Heat 1 - 2230m: Holdonmyheart USA (Clarke Barron) fr, 1; Kyvalley Prince (Graeme Lang) 10m., 2; Pride Of Petite USA (Mark Purdon) 40m., 3. MR 2:05.7.

Early in the second heat, Knight Pistol went back to its former ways with a break, thus robbing the race of the expected big finish with the Lang-trained Wagon Apollo, Australia's top trotter of recent times. The latter gained maximum points when Lang made his run a long way from home, trotting too solidly for the opposition.

Heat 2 - 2230m: Wagon Apollo (Graeme Lang) 30m.,1; Maoris Dream (Trevor Kelly) fr., 2; Inda Bank NZ (Barry Purdon) 20m., 3. MR 2:04.7.

SECOND NIGHT

On the eve of the second and final night of trotting heats on March 8, reports came from New Zealand of large support for the American horse Holdonmyheart USA where the TAB had been operating on fixed-odds betting for the Inter Dominions. So strong was the flood of money for the Michael House-trained squaregaiter that the NZ TAB reduced its odds to $2.25 for a win, despite this race stepping up in distance to 2645m. When Holdonmyheart looked certain to be right in the finish, it went off stride. The Victorian Wagon Apollo again finished on strongly from its backmark to gain the honours, sprinting home too well with a last quarter in 30.4.

Heat 3 - 2645m: Wagon Apollo (Graeme Lang) 30m, 1; Diamond Field NZ (Paul Cavallaro) 30m, 2; Maoris Dream (Trevor Kelly) fr, 3. MR 2:05.3.

As was the case with the last of the pacing heats, the trotters section brought together two of its biggest guns -- the classy backmarker Pride Of Petite USA and the greatly improved veteran Knight Pistol, with the latter requiring to finish in a place to have sufficient points to make it through to the Grand Final. Rosanna Hest NZ from NSW made the running, with Knight Pistol seemingly content to race outside its wheel. Purdon began his run with the backmarker when racing for the bell, and the grand New Zealand mare who had been conceived in the USA, powered home too strongly to win narrowly but decisively over Knight Pistol. The Kiwi star had posted its last quarter in a fast 29.8.

Heat 4 - 2645m: Pride Of Petite USA (Mark Purdon) 40m, 1; Knight Pistol (Kerryn Manning) fr, 2; Kyvalley Prince (Graeme Lang) 10m, 3. MR 2:05.3.

GRAND FINAL

The field in barrier order for the Grand Final was Weston Gee NZ, Knight Pistol, Torledo, Holdonmyheart USA, Maoris Dream, Rosanna Hest NZ, Alias Beau, Staralee, front; Homer Hawk, Kyvalley Price 10m; Inda Bank NZ 20m; Diamond Field NZ, Wagon Apollo 30m; and Pride Of Petite USA 40m. Clarke Barron was still confident the American trotter could cope with the step up to the marathon journey for it of 3075 metres -- a distance both Wagon Apollo and Pride Of Petite USA had enjoyed racing over in the past. There was little between the trio in betting on the final, with Knight Pistol having its share of supporters. This carnival would be one of the few occasions when both the trotters and pacers Grand Finals would be held on the same night, and the squaregaiters would add a special brand of colour and excitement to round off a memorable night.

Handicappers are a protected group. Once again horsemen who believed their horse had been dealt a poor hand by handicappers, would be proven wrong in the final analysis, being upstaged by a great and wonderful display of trotting at Globe Derby Park in the 1997 Grand Final. This race, in the minds of many, will go down as one of the truly great finals of any Inter Dominion Trotters Championship as there was not a breath between the first three placings.

Knight Pistol and Holdonmyheart USA ensured the speed on this smallish track was on right from the start, with Knight Pistol finding the early lead before being joined by the former American trotter. At the bell lap, both Wagon Apollo and Pride Of Petite USA were so far back that some punters may well have been prepared to discard betting tickets. Holdonmyheart USA finally swept past Knight Pistol 400 metres from home, only to have the much improved Victorian continue to grind away and actually have its nose in front turning for home. With so much action going on up front, many may have missed Wagon Apollo and Pride Of USA Petite both zooming home from what had moments before seemed to have been impossible positions.

In the rush to the line, no one could have picked the result with any certainty, as Knight Pistol, Wagon Apollo and Pride Of Petite USA virtually reached the post in a line, with Holdonmyheart USA only a neck away fourth. No officials could have scripted a better Grand Final, as the crowd waited in great anticipation for the result of the desperately close photo-finish. The print revealed the mare on the outside had won back-to-back titles, this time by the narrowest of margins -- a short half-head, with a half-head between second and third.