Talented four-year-old gelding Mister Zion claimed a thrilling win on Saturday night in the $50,000 Group 2 Mildura Pacing Cup Final (2600m) giving him another prestigious victory to add to his Barastoc Grand Circuit and South Australian Cup wins.
After sitting three wide early on, the Geoff Webster-trained Mister Zion ($3.10) had snared the lead by the bell and held on for the win despite a strong challenge by the Gavin Lang-trained and driven Sammy Maguire ($2.30 Fav) who finished second just a head back.
Impressive filly Make Mine Cullen ($3.70) was only 1.5m away for third in a close top three finish after leading in the early stages of the race and sitting on the inside for the sprint home.
It was a thrilling finish for the spectators and a nervous wait for connections of the top two horses with Mister Zion and Sammy Maguire locked shoulder-to-shoulder over the final lap.
Mister Zion and Sammy Maguire were locked shoulder-to-shoulder over the final lap
On the back straight Sammy Maguire raced on the outside of Mister Zion, driven by boom reinsman Greg Sugars, who got just ahead on the line giving him the win over the odds-on favourite. It was the second consecutive year Sammy Maguire ran second in the Mildura Cup.
A son of Red River Hanover, Mister Zion now boasts an impressive strike rate of 14 wins from 23 starts and his career prizemoney totals $197,347.
2010 Park Douglas Printing Mildura Pacing Cup Results:
Place |
Horse |
Prizemoney |
Row & Br. |
Trainer |
Driver |
Margin (m) |
| 1 |
MISTER ZION (NZ) |
$33,750 | Fr5 | G F Webster | G R Sugars | - |
| 2 |
SAMMY MAGUIRE (NZ) |
$7,500 | Sr2 | G A Lang | G Lang | HEAD |
| 3 |
MAKE MINE CULLEN |
$5,000 | Fr4 | G F Douglas | D K Douglas | 1.50 |
| 4 |
THE GUNSTAR |
$2,500 | Fr6 | D F Braun | C A Alford | 14.50 |
| 5 |
MASTER WARATAH |
$1,250 | Fr1 | M Cirillo | N L Milne | 15.20 |
| 6 |
MYSTICAL WARRIOR |
- | Fr2 | G P Freeman | D R Wilson | 16.50 |
| 7 |
NO ENCORE |
- | Sr4 | S J O’Donoghue | N A McCallum | 20.80 |
| 8 |
JACKSON GRANT |
- | Sr3 | G F Douglas | M J Bellman | 22.80 |
| 9 |
IN MONACO (NZ) |
- | Sr1 | C L Wootton | B R Gath | 26.50 |
| 10 |
BUNDA CLIFFS (NZ) |
- | Fr3 | G F Douglas | G F Douglas | 33.80 |
| Scratched: | ||||||
| DREAMING FELLA | ||||||