He’s the King of Menangle, and now Luke McCarthy is the proud winner of the two richest harness races ever run in the world.

Luke McCarthy — the brother of Andy & Todd McCarthy — showed he wasn’t ready to relinquish his crown as the King Of Menangle with a magnificent victory aboard Don Hugo in the $1,900,290 ($2.1 million AUD) TAB Eureka at Tabcorp Park Menangle.

As so often happens in these big harness races, nothing went to plan for many of the participants and it was again McCarthy who took the initiative, making an early dash and finding the front and defying all attempts to run him down in the straight.

And as McCarthy savored his victory he knew that a middle half of just :59.2 (splits of :29.1 and :30.1) was where the race was won.

“I knew they’d be coming so I took the chance for a bit of a breather while I had the chance,” said the champion reinsman. “After I was able to get those fractions I knew we’d be hard to hold out.”

McCarthy won last year’s inaugural running of the TAB Eureka with Encipher, trained by Emma Stewart.

This time around he trained and drove the winner, which only added to the pressure, which has been at fever pitch all week.

It began at the barrier draw on Monday when McCarthy was mulling over which of his two horses he would drive, Don Hugo or star mare Eye Keep Smiling.

And, as usual, McCarthy pulled the right rein, sticking with Don Hugo for slot-holder John Singleton.

“It’s a heck of a thrill to just be taking part in big races like this – let alone the richest race in the world,” he said. “To win it not once but twice is just fantastic.”

Typically, the modest McCarthy wanted to share the spotlight: “My daughter Maddison won her netball grand final this afternoon and I told her I hoped to now go out and win my grand final,” he grinned.

“To be honest, I really wasn’t too sure how I was going to drive him. I knew he’d be hard to beat but, gee, things just worked out perfectly. To win like this is a dream.”

Owned by Kingstead Lodge Pty Ltd., Don Hugo is a four-year-old son of Art Major out of the Bettors Delight mare Cinco Amigos NZ. He now sports a summary of 11-9-7 from 37 starts with more than $1.2 million (AUD) in earnings.

While Don Hugo deserved all the plaudits, the effort by three-year-old Bay Of Biscay to finish second was also a sterling effort with the next generation’s superstar driver Camerron Hart in the bike.

The lightly-raced High Above (Kerryn Manning) was also an eye-catching third, just ahead of Wisper A Secret (Pete McMullen) with the winner’s mile rate 1:53.3 over the 2,300 metre journey.

(with files from Club Menangle)