The amazing Blacks A
Fake has done it again! The Australian superstar captured his
own piece of equine immortality by winning a fourth
Inter-Dominion Grand Final title on Sunday, and the amazing
thing is he could've won the last five Pacing Finals had he
not finished a close second to Mr Feelgood in last season's
edition. Blacks A Fake beat the favourite and NZ's great white
hope, Monkey King, on his merits; although the latter didn't
show his normal zip at the end of the race and may have been
slightly off colour. Take nothing away from Blacks A Fake
though, as he has now won 61 of his 82 starts, been placed a
further 15 times, and amassed a whopping $4.2million in
stakemoney.
Sunday's Grand Final
meeting also saw the culmination of this year's Australasian
Young Drivers' Championship, where Gareth Rattray came out on
top. Kiwi Representatives Roydon Downey, Reon Tither and
Dexter Dunn won the last three Heats of the series between
them, ensuring a top-three finish for Downey and Dunn, but in
the end the lead that Rattray had proved unasailable and he
added the 2010 title to the one he'd already picked up in
2005.
Now that another
Inter-Dominion has been done and dusted, harness fans'
attention switches to a star-studded night of racing at
Alexandra Park on Friday evening. Every race on the programme
is worth at least $25,000, with the main two events being the
$500,000 Group1 Woodlands Northern Derby and Trillian Trust
Auckland Cup, which is worth the same amount. Every field is
packed full of in-form horses, and all in all it should make
for a heart-stopping night's entertainment.
