Three-year-old Courage To Rule ($11) defeated Lincoln Royal ($5.20) by 1.5m with star Queensland-trained pacer Lanercost ($10.20) a further 1.2m back in third.

Courage To Rule’s sire Courage Under Fire also won a Victoria Derby back in 1999.

Eventual runner-up, Lincoln Royal led going into the second quarter after running a mild paced first quarter of 31.0s.

The second quarter was run in 31.7s, just after which Lincoln Royal started to really pick up the pace leading by 4m ahead of the odds-on favourite Major Bronski ($4.10).

By this stage in the third quarter, Courage To Rule was still only sitting in fourth position behind Lanercost.

Major Bronski shortened the gap between him and Lincoln Royal to only 2m as the hectic 27.7s third quarter played out.

Lanercost then moved into the sprint lane while Courage To Rule made his move on the outside putting in a sensational chase over the final metres.

It was the three Kiwis fighting it out over the closing stages, Lanercost on the inside beside Lincoln Royal with Courage To Rule on the end.

But it was Courage To Rule who crossed the line first for his fifth win from 21 career starts, having now won over $287 000 in prizemoney.

In the end Major Bronski, who threatened the lead nearly all the way, lost pace and could only manage to finish fourth putting an end to his incredible nine-race winning streak.

The winner’s driver Greg Bennett was fined along with Lincoln Royal’s reinsman Maurice McKendry while Lanercost’s trainer-driver Darrel Graham was cautioned for his lack of control.

Meanwhile, the final ever harness race held at the Moonee Pond circuit was the $20 000 BIG6 Country Clubs Championship Final (2100m) won by Strident. The win gave prolific driver Gavin Lang his 1029^th win at the Moonee Valley track, the most of any reinsman.

2010 Alabar Victoria Derby Results:

Starting the race as the $5.10 favourite, Bondy beat home Karloo Mick ($9.40), who had a beautiful run on the inside, by 2.9m with the Gary Hall-trained Im Themightyquinn ($6.60) 1.7m back again for third.

In an impressive display of speed and stamina, Bondy led after 200m and held on to the front position throughout the entire race.

It wasn’t always an easy run, with lots of pressure to maintain the lead coming from both sides. Lance Justice’s Smoken Up ($5.70) sat three wide on the outside of Bondy before Victoria Cup winner Bettors Strike ($7.40) also moved up and the three sat alongside each other into the home straight.

In the final quarter the two pacers applying pressure tiered, with Smoken Up finishing seventh while Bettors Strike dropped right back to twelfth.

As the chasers faded, Karloo Mick, who had travelled well behind Bondy throughout held on gallantly for second while Im Themightyquinn moved up and through the weary field to finish third.

On the final turn the David Butt trained and driven winner had widened his lead to a commanding six metres, but Karloo Mick put in a gallant chase to shorten the eventual margin to just under 3 metres.

The winning Live Or Die gelding ran a solid mile rate of 2:01.7s over the challenging 3065m standing start event, for his 21^st win from 40 career starts. It was only his second start in Australia following his debut at Ballarat the previous week.

Bondy will now be aimed at the Watpac Inter Dominion Pacing Championship beginning on 19 February.

The other big pacing events on the night were the $200 000 Group 1 Alabar Victoria Derby won by Courage To Rule, and the fast finishing $30 000 Group 3 4YO Bonanza where Living On Fire ($7.10) claimed victory just half a head in front of Village Of Dreams ($8.20) with the Geoff Webster-trained favourite Mister Zion ($1.60) in third.

2010 BIG6 Hunter Cup Results:

In-form pacer For A Reason, trained and driven by Luke McCarthy, has drawn ideally with barrier two. The brilliant Art Major Colt has displayed first class style of late, winning his past four from five starts but placing second in the heats last week.

For A Reason is one of three top colts representing Queensland in the prestigious Victorian event on Saturday night after blitzing the heats, alongside Lanercost and Major Bronski.

The classy Queensland pacer Lanercost, who took out heat one at Maryborough in sensational style, had all the luck in the barrier draw for last week and has been allocated the second row barrier 9 for the final. The colt is aiming for their fourth successive victory and will be driven by trainer Darrel Graham, who has expressed how pleased the draw.

Barrier nine will allow Lanercost, a son of Courage Under Fire, to sit behind the likely pacesetter For A Reason and hopefully find a forward position early on.

Also drawing wide for the final is the ever consistent and impressive Stuart Hunter-trained Major Bronski with barrier 11. Another three-year-old from super sire Art Major, Major Bronski took out heat 2 last Friday night ahead of For A Reason, giving him his ninth consecutive victory.

The third heat winner to qualify for the final was Lincoln Royal who claimed an emphatic victory ahead of Chariot King by 7.5m.

Lincoln Royal has drawn barrier eight this Saturday and will have Maurice McKendry in the sulky while Chariot King has drawn far better in barrier three.

The Alabar Victoria Derby falls as the sixth race at the meeting and is due to jump at 8:32pm (VIC time).

2010 Alabar Victoria Derby Final Field & Barrier Draw: