All-Stars magnificent seven
They’ve done it before, and they’ll do it again, but it never fails to astound.
Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen won seven of the 12 races on Alexandra Park’s biggest night of the year on Sunday afternoon, New Year’s Eve.
Among the seven were an Auckland Cup trifecta headed by Vincent, another Group 1 win for Elle Mac in the Sires Stakes 3YO Fillies Championship, and a big stakes race win by the unbeaten Chase Auckland.
They rolled out the first what will be many good juveniles this season, Jesse Duke, and he was an impressive winner of the second Young Guns heat while Stress Factor, A Lister and Ashley Locaz completed the rout.
Purdon was still suspended from driving so was watching from the sidelines, but Rasmussen had things well under control, winning all three feature pacing races in the sulky with an extra win for good measure.
Vincent justified his very short
$1.30 dividend with an emphatic win in the time-honoured Group 1
$250,000 Trillian Trust Auckland Cup.
He began well from the standing start, trailing Titan Banner early before finding the lead 2200 metres out from home.
He broke the clock on the last lap, burning home in 54.4secs for the final half to win comfortably.
It was a win that confirmed him as being cut from the same cloth as his freakish stablemate Lazarus, and a meeting of the two could well happen in the Miracle Mile before season’s end.
Purdon and Rasmussen recorded a new ‘first’ by training the Auckland Cup trifecta with Titan Banner and Heaven Rocks filling the minors.
Rasmussen also became the first female driver to win the Auckland Cup.
Heaven Rocks put in one of his better performances, and looked to have Vincent’s measure when he hit the front on the final bend, only to get the speed wobbles and lose his momentum and confidence.
Vincent will now head to Australia, where his first target will be the $100,000 Ballarat Cup on January 20.
Elle Mac had looked to have perhaps come back to the pack this season after winning two Group 1s and the 2YO Filly of the Year title last season.
But some extra attention from cotrainer Mark Purdon in the lead-up to this week’s Fillies Championship saw her cherry ripe and make it three Auckland Group 1s.
She had to be good from the second row, but Rasmussen put her in the race at the right time and she trailed Dizzy Miss Lizzy for the final lap, eventually beating her up the passing lane.
Like Vincent, and Jesse Duke, Elle Mac is owned by Victorians Bill and Jean Feiss, who are forging an incredible record with yearling buys trained by Purdon and Rasmussen.
Their earlier successes have come with champion filly Spanish Armada, Chase The Dream, Willow and Mackenzie.
Chase Auckland has been the boom horse of this season’s threeyear-old crop and continued his breathtaking unbeaten streak with a dominant win in the $225,000 Listed NZ Yearling Sales Series Final for graduates of the New Zealand sale ring.
A red-hot early pace, with a number of horses hunting the marker line and a trail behind one of the big guns, saw the race pan out perfectly for Chase Auckland.
When the speed buttoned of at the 1400-metre mark, Rasmussen set Chase Auckland alight and he worked round to the lead, stablemate All U Need Is Faith following him and ending up parked for the last lap.
The latter actually headed off Chase Auckland at the top of the straight, but like only good horses can, he fought back doggedly to worry All U Need Is Faith out of the win.
Their stablemate Spankem completed another notable stable trifecta, Culpeka and Brent Mangos narrowly preventing an All Stars First 4 with The Devils Own.
Jesse Duke had to sit parked and win, which is not an easy ask for juveniles having their first start at Alexandra Park without so much as a trial there to familiarize themselves.
But the son of Bettor’s Delight, a $220,000 sale topper at last year’s Karaka yearling sale, showed that he has a bright future by digging in to win in the hands of Rasmussen.
It was another Purdon trifecta, this time Mark’s brother Barry filling the minors with his debutants, Star Of Montana and Supreme Dominator.