Spankem claims Miracle Mile spoils

New Zealand pacer Spankem scaled the top of Australasia’s pacing ranks with a polished front-running win in the A$1 Million Miracle Mile in Sydney on Saturday night.

His win was part of another memorable night for the All Stars stable of Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen, who ran the quinella with Thefixer and also won the New South Wales Oaks and Ladyship Mile on the undercard. An aggressive Purdon drive early on proved telling as he sped to the lead, headed off his stablemate before burning home in 52.6 to get the win, the race time 1.47.7.

Those back in the field, such as Tiger Tara, Chase Auckland and Poster Boy could not make headway, while last year’s winner My Field Marshal, was pulled up after suffering an atrial fibrillation. Spankem had won the final qualifying race for the Miracle Mile, the $100,000 G1 Canadian Club Sprint, seven days earlier, and Purdon said his confidence had sky-rocketed since.

It’s been an interesting two years for Spankem, who was crowned champion two-year-old of his year but became the forgotten horse last season.

He only won once from seven starts and seemingly fell down the pecking order. But he’s been rejuvenated this season, winning two Inter Dominion heats, the Kaikoura Cup, the Canadian Club and now the richest race on the calendar. It was also the first Miracle Mile driving success for Purdon.

Brilliant mare Dream About Me ended her career in the best possible fashion winning the A$200,000 G1 Ladyship Mile.

Purdon rushed her off the arm from barrier two, leading and winning convincingly in 1.50.1, home in 53.9. Connections made the decision post-race that she would be retired immediately.

● Princess Tiffany set what is believed to be a world record for a three-year-old filly when destroying her opponents in the

A$200,000 G1 New South Wales Oaks. She led for Rasmussen and won by five lengths untouched, rating 1.53.4 for the mile-anda-half trip. NZ Harness News