All Star showing... again
Co-trainers Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen have combined for five race wins at Alexandra Park but they will be arch rivals at the same venue on New Year’s Eve.
Dream About Me, who won the $100,000 Group I Queen of Hearts on Friday night, is now a $2.60 favourite for the Auckland Cup.
And her main danger on the final day of 2017 will be stablemate Titan Banner, who is now a $2.70 shot in the race on the back of Friday night’s win in the Group II Franklin Cup.
On paper, Purdon – who will drive Dream About Me in the $250,000 Cup – and Rasmussen (Titan Banner) have the race between them.
The All Stars stable of Purdon and Rasmussen lined up runners in four of the Group features and won three of them on Friday night.
Dream About Me hardly got out of second gear when winning the Queen of Hearts by one and three quarter lengths over Rocker Band.
Following the race, Purdon once again compared the star mare to close relation and 2014 New Zealand Cup winner Adore Me.
Such was her class edge, Dream About Me, raced by prolific breeder Charlie Roberts, Mary and Paul Kenny and the estate of Roberts’ late wife June, returned just $1 on the tote for win number 18 of her career from just 21 starts.
Titan Banner made it two wins in as many weeks at Alexandra Park when he fought off a game Christen Me to win the Group II Franklin Cup and give Rasmussen her third driving win of the night.
Rasmussen was forced to sit parked but the five-year-old son of Art Major still had enough gas in the tank to run past Christen Me.
Hug The Wind and Tiger Tara rounded out the top four but both need to find a couple of lengths improvement if they are to trouble the All Stars pairing in the Auckland Cup.
A flat tyre after just 200m of the $40,000 Group II Lyell Creek Stakes put paid to Marcoola’s winning chances.
The $1.40 favourite battled on well for fourth but it was speedy mare Sunny Ruby who came over the top of the field to win by half a length and stop the All Stars stable clean sweeping the features. Thier runner, Ayra, finished back in seventh.
Belles Son was the eye-catching run of the race when he sprinted up the passing lane to finish second.
Another All Stars runner, Spanish Armada overcame her wide draw to down arch rival Delightful Memphis in an epic tussle up the Alexandra Park straight and take home the $75,000 Group II Peter Breckon Memorial Ladyship Stakes.
Spanish Armada, in the hands of Rasmussen, prevailed by a neck to reverse the result of seven days earlier when Delightful Memphis was victorious.
Yet another All Stars runner, Ultimate Machete, was a two and a quarter length winner in the Group II Alabar Classic.
Meanwhile, Master Lavros gave the field a massive head start in his return to racing at Addington after galloping off the mobile arm but still came over the top of the field to win by half a length.
He trotted roughly in the final stages but trainer and driver Mark Jones will not be overly concerned given it was his first race in a tick under a year.