On Friday, April 8 at Alexandra Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Smoken Up held off late bids by some solid horses to post a three-quarters of one length victory in the $800,000 Inter Dominion Pacing Championship for
trainer/driver Lance Justice.
The race, contested at a distance of 2,700 metres (just short of one and three-quarter miles), saw Justice send his eight-year-old son of Tinted Cloud three-wide during the first trip down the backstretch.
After having made the lead, Justice and Smoken Up held off bids from Themightyquinn and multiple InterDom winner Blacks A Fake. Themightyquinn finished second; Blacks A Fake finished third, and Smiling Shard fourth.
Smoken Up stopped the clock in 3:17.27, which translates to a 1:57.58 clocking at a rated-mile distance. He has now won 47 of his 92 career races and has banked more than $2.6 million in purses.
"What can you say about him,'' Justice was quoted as saying afterward in an article by stuff.co.nz.
"He can be running on empty but will still dig deep and give you a massive effort when it comes down to the dog fight.
"He might not be the fastest horse around, but his heart is massive and he will always stick his neck out for you.''
(With files from stuff.co.nz)
Related Stories