Purdon suspended
MARK Purdon has set his sights on sweeping the biggest races in Australia but a suspension means he will miss one of the biggest back home in the meantime.
Purdon, who drove Lazarus to a stunning victory in the A$1.1 Million ( NZ$1.2 million) Inter Dominion Grand Final at Gloucester Park in Perth on Friday night (Saturday morning NZT), has been handed down a 26 day suspension by RWWA Stewards.
One race after his Inter Dominion heroics with two-time New Zealand Trotting Cup winner Lazarus, Purdon made it back-toback victories when he drove Ultimate Machete to victory in the Group I Golden Nugget.
But the victory in the fouryear-old feature came at a big cost.
Purdon was suspended for 26 days after stewards deemed him to have forced another runner wide.
The suspension rules him out of the Auckland Cup carnival but he will be back to drive Lazarus in two extra starts in Perth that have now been confirmed.
Lazarus’ part-owner Kevin Riseley said the West Australian Cup and Fremantle Cup are next on the hit list before a return to the eastern states for the Hunter Cup and Miracle Mile.
‘‘That is the plan Mark has in mind and it would be good to see him do that, and show how good he is,’’ Riseley said. ‘‘He is the best horse I have had, he does things you find hard to believe.’’
Purdon was able to salute the crowd 50 metres from the line, such was the superiority of Lazarus, which had sat outside the leader for most of the 2936-metre journey.
After the five-year-old’s twolength victory in the biggest race in Australasia and in one of its JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF strongest fields in recent memory, Lazarus has cemented himself as the best pacer in Australasia.
‘‘I don’t call many of them champions, but this horse is,’’ Purdon said after Lazarus won by two lengths from Chicago Bull with leader Tiger Tara holding on for third a further length behind Chicago Bull.
Lazarus has never missed a place in 40 starts and has 33 wins to his name. He was completely in control of the Inter Dominion a long way out, which allowed Purdon to choose when he put his rivals away.
‘‘He just relaxed out there and didn’t take anything out of himself, he knows when the business end is – just a real professional,’’ Purdon said.
When Tiger Tara found the lead from the inside draw and rolled through a leisurely lead time, the pressure didn’t really come on until the bell with first half of the last mile only covered in 60 seconds.
That was when Lazarus came into his own.
He ran quarter of 27.4secs and 27.2, a last half of 54.6, and still had something in hand as he rated 1.57.6.
‘‘Tiger Tara was sort of flat down the back and [Lazarus] was travelling better than him, so it was just a matter of nursing him around the corner,’’ Purdon said. ‘‘It was a great feeling. ‘‘When you’ve got a horse like this it comes with a lot of pressure, too.’’
Ultimate Machete was found to be lame after his Golden Nugget victory but his connections are confident it was just a minor issue.