 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2000
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| The Dominion winning combination |
Tim Butt iced the cake that was his Cup meeting by winning four races at Addington on Dominion night. The West Melton trainer took out all three trots on the programme, including the Dominion Handicap, and the pacers' Free-For-All, bringing his total haul over the four days of racing to seven.
Contributing to Butt's best-ever showing at the meeting were Take A Moment (three wins), Lyell Creek, Happy Asset, Pocket Me and Eastnor Lad, but in years to come it will only be remembered as the time when Lyell Creek got beaten. That is why the great trotter (unjustly) had a point to prove on Friday.
The speed was on right from the word go in the Dominion, and big Lyell didn't start his move around the field until inside the mile, eventually taking the lead from McGrady with a lap to run. He was still coasting at the finish, taking out the coveted two-mile event on a cold night in a tick over 4:06. "There was a bit of apprehension beforehand, but, just like the week before, I couldn't fault him going into the race," Butt said. "And he won it easy, Ants didn't really let him go in case he did something stupid."
Having successfully defended his Dominion Handicap title, that could be the last Addington fans see of Lyell Creek. "He now heads to Auckland for a discretionary handicap on December 15, followed by a 2700m mobile Free-For-All a week later - which he'll probably draw one in," Butt quipped. "There's a mile even at Cambridge for him on January 3, then he heads off to Melbourne for the Dullard Cup and the Australasian Trotters' Championship. "Lyell needs racing every week now, he's getting smart and a bit above himself, so it will do him good," he said.
Credit: John Robinson writing in NZHR Weekly