 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2008
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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Look out Australia, he is on his way! Auckland Reactor flies out next Monday bound for Sydney and the Miracle Mile on November 28.
The Mach Three entire was simply sensational in the $300,000 Woodlands NZ Free-For-All at Addington on Show Day, and afterwards co-trainer/driver Mark Purdon confirmed that the next target with the unbeaten freak is a raid across the Tasman. Harold Park officials visited All Stars Stables this time last week to issue an invitation to Auckland Reactor's connections, and although he accepted, Purdon still wanted him to "perform" a couple of days later.
And that he did, dishing out a hiding to the Cup winner Changeover and six other hapless rivals as his unrelenting rampage continued. Purdon elected to stay out of the early rush for positions in the Free-For-All, tactics which he decided upon as late as the morning of the event. "My first intention was to go out, but I didn't realise that Monkey King and Baileys Dream had been scratched until I arrived on-course, and that changed the complexion of the race," he said. "After that my main focus was to keep him off the fence, and things pretty much panned out like I had envisaged they would."
With Changeover bowling along in front, Purdon wanted Auckland Reactor up outside him as the 800m peg loomed. The two stallions matched motors down the back, that next quarter zipping by in a lightning 26.6, and then turning for home Purdon asked Auckland Reactor to stretch out. Feeling the whip for the first time since the Sires' Stakes Final a year earlier, the great horse found energy reserves that others couldn't and actually pulled away near the finish, winning by nearly two lengths.
Auckland Reactor stopped the clock at an amazing 2:21.8 for the 2000m speed test, a 1:54 mile rate, and considering the overall time it was simply stunning that he had been able to produce a final quarter of 27.8 into the teeth of a strong Easterly wind. Auckland Reactor had already claimed the quickest last half on record at Addington three days earlier when he coasted to a 54.8 split in front; this time he was parked outside the Cup winner, but lowered it again by nearly a full half-second.
So did it feel like they were going that fast? "It never does with him," said Purdon, who is in awe of the pacer himself. "I reckon if that race had been run on Cup Day, he'd have probably gone a second and a half quicker." Purdon also gave a rarely seen flourish as he crossed the line...it was a signal of satisfaction for a mission accomplished, because he admits that there is always a bit of pressure to be felt with a horse that carries so much of the public's money.
So now Australia beckons, and Purdon will travel north by road with the champ this Saturday and accompany him on his journey across the Tasman. "It is a bit of a shame that the Miracle Mile's not being run at Menangle, because that's a track he would have really loved. But around Harold Park it is a races that is pretty much decided by the draw, so we will just keep our fingers crossed for a favourable marble," he said, adding that he would like to draw "one to four."
Purdon is no stranger to the Miracle Mile arena, having run an unlucky fourth with Young Rufus and seconds behind Il Vicolo(twice) and Jack Cade. Auckland Reactor's just that little bit more special than all them, though. "They never ran the sort of times that he seems to be able to, week after week," he said. "I mean, when he went 3:09 in the Derby - that was unheard of. It's like he is ahead of his time."
And he says there is a combination of factors that make Auckland Reactor the horse he is. "Number one is his will to win. Plus he has got a great temperament and gait, he just glides along. It's like driving a BMW. He is the perfect gentleman around home, too. Like any stallion, he'll let out a squeal every now and then, but the only time you really hear from him is feed-up time."
After the Miracle Mile, Auckland Reactor will tackle the Victoria Cup on December 20 and then Purdon says he would like to get him home again. "We will just evaluate thigs as we go after that, I don't think we have to start making any other plans at this stage. But it is exciting to be going over there with him. The Miracle Mile's on of the few races that has eluded us so far...that, and a Dominion," he smiled. Fans of Stig, rest easy. Auckland Reactor might be able to do a lot of things, but he can't trot.
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Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 19Nov08
I wasn't around when bikes and buses brought huge crowds to see Harold Logan at Addington Raceway, though some think I was, nor when Johnny Globe was in demand. They were the halcyon days for racing when the competition for entertainment was not what it is today.
There have been good numbers watching other great horses since then, but times have changed; there are no turnstiles, no queues, it needs more than just a great horse to make the appeal great horses once did. Salvation is at hand - because now we have one. Auckland Reactor. 'Mac' to those who know him best.
Those who feared the winning bubble would burst whe Auckland Reactor took on the all-round game of Changeover in the Woodlands NZ Free-For-All at Addington on Show Day were devastatingly wrong. Auckland Reactor handled the older horses, in fact toyed with them, as he hoisted a new time for the distance. His time of 2:21.8 surpassed the old record held by Waipawa Lad by 0.2 sec.
Auckland Reactor gave notice to the heights he was heading when he demolished the Sires' Stakes Final at Addington at the Cup Meeting a year ago. It's been a steady sure-footed climb since, and topped superbly by what he did to Awesome Armbro and Changeover and five others on a hot, blustery Show Day afternoon. Fortunately there were a goodly number of others there to see it. The stands were near to full, there was a buzz of anticipation before the race, and the noise built to a deafening level near the 200 metres when Mark Purdon asked him questions he had never been asked before. The plugs were out and the whip was used, and Auckland Reactor put on full power to pull away.
There was a rush to the fence to see him back by those wanting to check the width of Purdon's smile. They knew the occasion was special, perhaps in the knowledge they had not seen one as good, and probably won't again. Auckland Reactor caps were thrown into the crowd - 200 of them - and you had to be lucky to get one, and most were not.
Watching it all was New Zealand manager John Curtin, a five percent owner of the horse who had not been to Addington since Golden Reign's win in the 1995 Inter-Dominion Grand Final. "I didn't think we had a show early on, but this is not a normal horse. I had goosebumps, and it wasn't because of the weather. Doing what he did at his first time against the best shows he is something special; it's scary - there's an 'X factor' about him. Maybe Mark didn't know how good he is - maybe he knew - we all know now."
Curtin said he was "in awe" of the operation at the Purdon and Payne stables. "I thought there would be horses everywhere, and people rushing about, but it's not like that. Everything is so relaxed. It's wonderful for New Zealand. If you were a horse, it is the only place you would want to be." Curtin is much-travelled and can speak with authority on worldwide aspects of harness racing. "There is not a barn in North America that would compare with what they have," he said.
The programme for Auckland Reactor is now settled, in the meantime, at least, and no-one's looking any further than that. "He will go to the Miracle Mile and then the Victoria Cup," said Curtin. "Mark will make a decision after that. The people who own him are wonderful and they are right behind whatever Mark does. It's my impression that he won't be going to America until the year after next, and Mark will go right through with him, wherever it is."
Curtin said Purdon was with him when they saw American star Somebeachsomewhere - also by Mach Three - get beaten for the first time. "They all get beaten, but to me, this was his greatest triumph," he said.
For Auckland Reactor, the next big crowds will be in Australia, and perhaps they will come to see him in the same numbers as what they have done here. They will miss something very special if they don't.
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 19Nov08