PROOF’S IN THE PURDON
IT hasn’t taken Nathan Purdon long to make a splash in the local harness racing scene.
In less than six months since moving into Dean Braun’s Lara stables, the 25-year-old Purdon has overseen two Group 1 victories, placed in another and snared Group 2 success in the prestigious Kilmore Pacing Cup. All with the same horse. A four-year-old daughter of leading stallion Bettors Delight, Amazing Dream boasts an imposing record of 23 wins and 13 placings from 41 career starts.
That the quietly spoken New Zealander has made such an immediate impact should come as no surprise being the son of Mark Purdon, the most decorated standardbred horseman in this part of the world.
But Purdon opted to forge his own pathway to the career for which he was destined.
“I came to Australia and worked for several different trainers before going out on my own,” Purdon said.
Gordon Banks and Mark Hanover, prominent US-based owners of Amazing Dream, watched Purdon’s progress from afar and were duly impressed. “Gordon and Mark asked me to be their private trainer,” he said.
Amazing Dream has kept herself in the best of company on the racetrack since making her debut in February 2019, competing against the best of her age in both sexes on the way to amassing a stunning seven Group 1 victories.
The mare showed she appreciated a Sunshine State winter campaign when she took out the Rising Sun at her Australian debut in Brisbane three months ago, following it up with a further Group 1 success in the Blacks A Fake a fortnight later.
She gets her chance to establish herself as the region’s pin-up pacer when she faces the starter in the coveted pole draw in Saturday night’s Flying Brick Cider Co Geelong Pacing Cup as the $1.70 favourite.
Purdon believes his charge has sufficient early speed from the mobile to hold the front running.
“My mare gets out pretty good, and
I would think that Anthony
(Butt) will be keen to hold the lead as there could be a few different leaders in the race if we took a sit,” he said.
Surprisingly, Amazing Dream hasn’t proven totally dominant against her own sex and in fact boasts a better record against the male pacers.
“It’s a bit quirky that she seems to save her best for when she takes on the boys,” he said. “Perhaps it’s because they run the races at a more genuine tempo against the boys and she does appreciate it when the speed is on.”
Geelong-based businessman Danny Zavitsanos, too, dares to dream of holding up his hometown cup in celebration as an owner, hoping to go one better than when his pacer Code Black finished runner-up when the event was last run in 2019.
Zavitsanos races the Beckley Park track record holder Mach Dan who is on the fourth line of betting as a $9 chance from a mid-front row draw.
Mach Dan turned in a good performance when he finished runnerup behind Amazing Dream in the Kilmore Pacing Cup a month ago.