He's New Zealand’s champion and now Christen Me can lay claim to being the best in Australasia after his stunning win in Saturday's SEW-Eurodrive Miracle Mile at Tabcorp Park Menangle.
How could you argue after Christen Me wore down the mighty defending champion Beautide and rated an incredible 1:49.1 mile to beat him by a half-neck with Victorian star Guaranteed third and another Kiwi, Terror To Love close up in fourth place.
This wasn’t a Miracle Mile – it was a war.
Right from the moment the gate let them go it was on for young and old as Easy On The Eye, Avonnova and Suave Stuey Lombo stuck it to each other as they vied for the lead in a scintillating :25.1 first quarter of the mile.
When they settled down with a second split of :28.2 Easy On The Eye had assumed control while Suave Stuey Lombo was able to slip onto his back while super-cool Tasmanian reinsman James Rattray quickly put Beautide into the race.
With a third split of :28.3 everyone was waiting for something to come from behind and Christen Me, who had settled in fifth and sixth place with driver Dexter Dunn, surged around to challenge Beautide as they turned for home.
It quickly developed into a two-horse war in deep sretch as Christen Me dug deep to wear down Beautide for a race-record win.
Earlier in the night when head trackman Owen Mulligan was asked what time they were likely to run in the Miracle Mile he simply said "they’ll go 1:49.1" and that’s exactly what they did.
The time of the mile eclipsed the previous stakes record by more than a second, with only Smoken Up’s 1:48.2 mile at Menangle three years ago faster in all of Australasia.
Christen Me will now head back to New Zealand where he’ll be hailed a hero but his trainer Cran Dalgety promised he’d be back to chase the Inter Dominion early next year at Menangle.
“We always expect a great drive from Dexter and he pulled out another pearler tonight,” said a delighted Dalgety after the race.
Dunn, regarded as New Zealand’s best reinsman, was just as excited.
“It’s a massive thrill and I’m lucky just to sit behind a horse like this and all the hard work is done when I jump into the gig. This is just fantastic,” Dunn said.
(with files from HRNSW)