Friday night at Gloucester Park six-year-old New Zealand gelding Our Malabar claimed victory in the feature pacing event, the $60 000 Group 2 Lawsons Underwriting Australasia Celebrity Sprint MS Pace (1730m).
Starting the race as an outside chance at $21.80, the Bob Mellsop-trained and driven Our Malabar secured a shock 1.2m win ahead of Talk To Me Courage ($12.60) with Has The Answers ($2.90) just 0.30m back for third.
Our Malabar broke the track record with his scintillating mile rate of 1:54.2, which destroyed the previous 1730m WA record set by Sneakyn Down Under in October of 1:54.6. The winner now has a record of 23 wins from 83 career starts.
Odds-on favourite at $2.30, Fremantle Cup winner Im Themightyquinn failed to place for trainer Gary Hall on the night, finishing a dismal sixth nearly 14m back from the winner missing out on a minor prize by just one spot. He began at a fantastic pace but was out-raced in the final quarter, wilting after his hectic early effort.
Only eight horses contested the event following the scratching of Tee Pee Villate, HY Royale and Stage Coach Kid.
All eyes will be on Our Malabar for the remainder of the Perth’s summer pacing carnival as the son of Live Or Die looks set for big things this season. Mellsop will now aim him at the $125 000 Australian Pacing Championship (2130m) on January 8 and the $400 000 WA Pacing Cup (2536m) on January 22.
2009 Celebrity Sprint MS Pace Results:
Placing |
Horse |
Prizemoney |
Row & Br. |
Trainer |
Driver |
Margin (m) |
| 1 |
OUR MALABAR (NZ) |
$40 000 | Fr5 | R J Mellsop | R J Mellsop | - |
| 2 |
TALK TO ME COURAGE (NZ) |
$11 000 | Fr4 | G E Hall Snr. | K N Prentice | 1.20 |
| 3 |
HAS THE ANSWERS |
$5 500 | Fr2 | T Svilicich | M L Woodley | 1.50 |
| 4 |
SNEAKYN DOWN UNDER (NZ) |
$2 500 | Fr3 | D W Duffy | A C Lewis | 2.80 |
| 5 |
VILLAGE RULER |
$1 000 | Fr7 | D J Harper | D J Harper | 8.30 |
| 6 |
IM THEMIGHTYQUINN (NZ) |
- | Fr1 | G E Hall Snr. | S J Cramp | 13.90 |
| 7 |
ALIVEANDWELL (NZ) |
- | Fr6 | A L De Campo | R P Bell | 28.80 |
| 8 |
HOMBRE HIGGINS |
- | Fr8 | M G Reed | G D Richards | 30.00 |
