King Tide

Brilliant pacer Beautide has clearly emerged as the best pacer in Australia this season.

The Tasmanian bred and owned star completed a unique double by claiming both the Miracle Mile and Inter Dominion Grand Final in the same term.

His record feat can't even be matched by Inter Dominion immortals Blacks A Fake and Im Themightyquinn.

And as good as his Miracle Mile triumph was back in November, his victory yesterday (Sunday) was even better.

Starting from a second-line draw, Beautide was allowed to settle early while trainer/driver James Rattray summed up the situation as many jostled for key positions.

The lead time for the 3009m event was posted in 103.8 seconds.

Rattray made his move soon after and left his midfield trail to work around the field to sit parked while Kiwi pacer Smolda followed him forward.

Smolda applied strong pressure to early leader Mach Beauty and eventually forced his way to the front leaving Beautide without cover for the final 1400m.

The first half of the final mile was covered in 26.5 and 30 seconds.

Heading down the back straight, Smolda led the way from Beautide while Terror To Love moved up solo three-wide.

The third quarter was covered in 28.6 seconds.

As the big field straightened, Beautide moved up menacingly on the outside of Smolda while Seel N Print was probing for inside runs with For A Reason making a charge from near last deeper off the track.

But they were all in chasing in vain as Rattray gave Beautide more rein and the Bettors Delight gelding simply exploded away from his rivals.

At the finish, Beautide was in a league of his own and scored a dominating victory from Seel N Print and For A Reason.

The final quarter was covered in 27.1 seconds.

The mile rate was 1;55.5 which clearly obliterated the previous world record time of 1;58.1 set by Im Themightyquinn who set the mark twelve months earlier.

“How good is that; he felt so strong all the way and raced super today. I love this horse and to claim the Miracle Mile and Inter Dominion in the same season is just unbelievable.” Rattray beamed.

“The race didn’t really run the way I expected but we got the result, that’s the main thing. I would like to thank Fia (Svennson), my entire family and everyone else who has helped along the way. This is unreal.” Rattray added.

The victory of Beautide elevates him to outright second on the Australian Pacing Gold Grand Circuit leaderboard with 220 points, 40 points behind Christen Me while For A Reason sits a close third with 200 points.

The final leg of the Grand Circuit is the Trillian Trust $250,000 Auckland Cup to be staged at Alexandra Park this Friday night.

Footnote; Smooth Satin was the last pacer to complete the big double during the 2001/02 season.