By Michael Guerin
The brave move that won Muscle Mountain today’s $40,000 Tactical Landing Flying Sprint at Ashburton could have left driver Ben Hope with egg all of his face.
But it might not just have won him this Group 3 but prove to be the blueprint to a late-career renaissance for the wonderful trotter.
Co-trainer Hope went against the pattern of the day when he led on the hot favourite in the feature sprint but elected to hand that role to last season’s winner and second favourite Bet N Win.
As it was Muscle Mountain was able to come off the back of Bet N Win at the 200m and wear him down, with the winner’s stablemate Mr Love brave in third.
As simple as it all looked, had Hope gifted the lead to his arch rival and got beaten the haters would have had a new favourite voodoo doll to stick pins into.
“I know it was against the pattern of the day with so many leaders winning but it was the best thing for my horse,” says Hope.
“I thought with Bet N Win having missed a race or two we might be able to get over top of him late and fortunately we were right.”
Remarkably it was the fourth time in five years Muscle Mountain has won the Flying Sprint, a modern day record, but this is not the same Muscle Mountain as he was for those other wins.
He is older and more fragile, not the fearsome stomping giant of the past, but still blessed with a great trotter’s speed.
“That has been the way we have been driving him, for his speed these days, and it has worked the last two,” says Hope.
“I also think it is how we will get the best out of him heading forward to a race like the Dominion in two weeks.
“He can get a big 3200m win driven like that so we are going there feeling good about where he is.”
While beaten fairly and squarely Bet N Win will clearly improve and add Oscar Bonavena, who missed this race, and a handful of Australians and the Dominion is looking one of the most even in years, with five or six winning chances.
Muscle Mountain wasn’t the only classy trotter to be just too quick for his rivals on Monday as three-year-old filly Ya Rite Darl led throughout to hold off Meant To Be in the Neumanns Hambletonian.
She has been in stunning race-and-repeat form for the last 4 weeks and while Meant To Be pushed her close enough after a brief early gallop, Ya Rite Dar always looked like she was going to win.
She has to be a huge chance in $500,000 The Ascent slot race during Cup week, especially as she has gate speed and Meant To Be will have to give her a start from the unruly.
Then Ya Rite Darl being a filly has the option of going to the NZ Trotting Oaks and sidestepping Meant To Be, who can of course only go to the Trotting Derby.
Ya Rite Darl’s win was the second leg of a huge race-to-race double for Diamond Racing and driver John Dunn after Got The Chocolates outmuscled Marketplace in the Gallagher Insurance Showcase.
Got The Chocolates had led and beaten Marketplace in the Flying Stakes last start but this was something different, sitting parked outside him and clearly outpointing the horse who had until recently dominated this crop.
The gap between the two has clearly closed a lot, maybe all the way. Their rivalry now shapes as one of the most fun contests of the next month in both the $500,000 Velocity and the NZ Pacing Derby.
Other feature race winners on a wet but wonderful day included Francent in the $60,000 Mid-Canterbury Owners Sprint for trainer Mark Jones and driver Samantha Ottley while Arafura was all class in her Nevele R Fillies heat and deserves to be the favourite for that Final on what is going to be an absorbing Cup Day at Addington on November 11.
