 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 1983
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
1983 PAN AM MILE
Just how deperately unlucky Bonnie's Chance was not to have taken a prominent part in the finish to the Auckland Cup a week earlier was emphasised when she strode away to an easy win in the Pan Am Mile at Addington Raceway on Saturday.
She tore out of the mobile barrier and was two lengths clear after a few strides. Then she relaxed and coasted over the first half of the race in little worse than 1min. After that she applied the pressure and, without being asked for an effort, she passed the post four lengths and a half in front of Dundas and Quiet Win. She returned 1:57.6, her last 800m in 57.4s, to become the first horse to win the prestigious sprint for a second time.
Patrick O'Reilly jun, has now driven the outstanding daughter of Majestic Chance and Bonnie Countess on two occasions for decisive wins. His other drive behind her was last season when she won the New Brighton Cup. "She's just terrific," commented O'Reilly. "I was worried when she pulled fiercely in her preliminary, but she settled and raced kindly. Richard (her trainer, Richard Brosnan) told me to give her as easy a run as possible. I just let her make her own way round to the half-way point and let her run home from there. It was just no effort to her. I reckon she could have bettered her time by a second and a half if not more had I pushed her a bit early," he added.
Bonnie's Chance has now had 64 starts for 28 wins and 18 placings worth $308,620 for Mrs Bonnie McGarry, of Timaru, and Mrs Karen Grice of Invercargill. There is a chance she might race at Washdyke on March 2 before going back to Alexandra Park for the Benson and Hedges Inter-Dominion series. The two most experienced open class horses in the field, Dundas and Quiet Win, led the futile chase after Bonnie's Chance. Dundas came from four places back to cut Quiet Win, which tracked Bonnie's Chance, by a short length for second.
There was much criticism of the inclusion of Diamond Moose and Our Mana in the field, but they fully justified their places. Diamond Moose gave Robin Butt an awkward drive when he raced fiercely on the rails. He clipped a wheel of Quiet Win's sulky near the 900m and the latter dragged a punctured tyre from that point. He surged gamely over the final stages to take fourth and earn $950, a neck in front of the C6 horse, Our Mana, which paced a remarkable race, considering his lack of experience. He raced in the open for the whole mile and kept on fighting to the line.
Norton, from a wide draw, was well off the pace and he made up many lengths in the run home for sixth, with the others never in contention. The performance of Diamond Moose, Our Mana and Norton showed they will be among the top pacers next season.
Credit: G K Yule writing in The Press 21 Feb 1983