Tiger Tara cheats death to win final
Months after cheating death, Tiger Tara ran to the most stunning Interdominion pacing final victory in Melbourne on Saturday night.
The tough New Zealand-bred pacer ran his rivals ragged to win the A$500,000 feature by more than 14 metres, smashing the Melton track record in the process.
In August, the Bettor’s Delight stallion and his trainer, Kevin Pizzuto, were both left shaken up when their horse and float were rammed by a car that ran through a stop sign.
Pizzuto said he thought the horse had broken his neck when he found Tiger Tara in his wrecked float. The pacer and his trainer got the ultimate reward when Tiger Tara bolted away from his rivals to win for driver Todd McCarthy. ‘‘We are both lucky to be alive,’’ Pizzuto said. ‘‘The horse is just unbelievable, we have gone through hell the last few months.
‘‘I was mentally and physically messed up from the accident, but I pulled it through. But, all credit to the horse and to Toddy.’’
Tiger Tara stopped the clock in 3.15.3, 0.4sec faster than Lazarus’ track-record breaking time in the Hunter Cup in February. The eight-year-old, runnerup in the New Zealand Cup in Christchurch last month, was aided by a brilliant front-running drive by McCarthy.
The reinsman surged the stallion to the front amid early fireworks that saw the horse drawn one, Galactic Star, gallop.
Tiger Tara cruised through the first two laps until Mark Purdon started the three-wide train by easing Spankem out at the bell. McCarthy then put Tiger Tara’s rivals to the sword, reeling off a crushing 26.3sec last quarter.
Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen’s pair of Cruz Bromac and Spankem finished third and fourth respectively.
‘‘They both went good races,’’ Purdon said. ‘‘You can’t take anything away from the winner, he was brilliant.’’
Meanwhile Tornado Valley capped his incredible rise from the middle grades of Canterbury to the top of Australasia’s trotting ranks to win the A$150,000 final. NZ Harness News