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:

Run over a testing 3065m this coveted standing start event has a capacity field of 14 elite pacers set to line up on the night and includes an abundance of big name players such as Mr Feelgood, Smoken Up, I Am Sam and Karloo Mick.

Trained and driven by Lance Justice, Smoken Up is one of the most experienced and formidable pacers in the final. The Tinted Cloud gelding is looking to return to winning form after three successive second placings but has been allocated a disappointing second-line draw with barrier 10.

The closest Smoken Up has come to a Hunter Cup victory was as runner-up by a mere half-head to Blacks A Fake two years back in 2008.

Victoria Cup victor Bettors Strike, despite drawing poorly with barrier 13, has been installed as the odds-on favourite for the race. Smoken Up occupies the next line of betting.

I Am Sam was runner up in the Hunter Cup last year and has drawn well with barrier four for this year.

But the big winner in the barrier draw was the Barry Lew-trained Karloo Mick, allocated the cherished barrier one.

Three of the best in-form pacers have all drawn poorly in the final. The John McCarthy-trained WA Pacing Cup winner Washakie is seeking out their fourth consecutive win but has a lot of work to do from barrier 14.

Mr Feelgood has suffered the most in the barrier allocations, drawing the far outside barrier 15.

Smart Victorian pacer Tanabi Bromack, trained by Keith Cotchin, is another last start winner who will race off the second row in the Hunter Cup.

Winner of the Shepparton Gold Cup last month and more recently victorious in the Horsham Pacing Cup, which earned them exemption for the Hunter Cup, Tanabi Bromack has drawn barrier 11.

Two other Group pacing events also highlight the cracker 10-race programme the $30 000 Group 3 4YO Bonanza (Race 2) followed by the other big one, the $200 000 Group 1 Alabar Victoria Derby Final (Race 6).

The BIG6 Hunter Cup will run at 9:30pm (VIC time) as race eight.

2010 BIG6 Hunter Cup Final Field & Barrier Draw:

Starting from the front row barrier four as the $2.50 favourite, the Queensland trained Washaki beat home the Gary Hall-trained Im Themightyquinn ($4.70) by 1.2m with Our Malabar ($41.70) the surprise third placegetter an extra four metres back.

It was a rough and tumble affair with many of the top elects finding themselves restrained after the start and unable to get a clear run including Has The Answers ($5.60) who came in fifth behind Alzona ($40.40) the roughie who had a great run for fourth, and sixth placegetter Bonavista Bay ($6.50).

The eventual winner was four deep into the first turn after showing great gate speed and then found himself caught three wide early on. Washakie continued to have a tough run but pressed forward to get up and make his move on the outside of the leader, crossing Indian Giver to lead the way into the back straight.

Inside the 650m local hero Im Themightyquinn raced up to Washakie and gave it everything he had, the two racing head to head before Im Themightyquinn snatched the lead for a few metres. But it was Washakie who took home the title after pulling out a final burst of acceleration to pull away from his fast finishing rival to take the title by just over a metre.

Early leader Indian Giver lost pace and ran out of charge, stopping to a walk in the final stretch and eventually finishing a distant ninth.

The John McCarthy-trained and driven Washakie peeled off sensational quarter sectionals to run a record breaking mile rate of 1:56.3, beating Our Sir Vancelot’s previous race mile rate record of 1:57.3 set in 1998.  The $250 000 first place prizemoney raised his earnings to an impressive $699 945 from his 24 career wins.

Now a triple Group 1 winner, Washakie will move on to the $400 000 BIG6 Hunter Cup at Moonee Valley on February 6, for which he has now been penalised 10m.

The victory also saw Washakie elevate to third on the overall Barastoc Grand Circuit leaderboard with four races to go in the series. Washakie sits on 11 points, four behind the leader Monkey King.

2010 WA Pacing Cup Results:

The ever-improving five-year-old Tanabi Bromac’s ($3.80) early lead was never contested and he went on to cross the line nearly seven metres ahead of Tear It All Away ($15.20) with Notaswethort ($6.50) in a determined third place following their bad start from the barriers, ahead of the $3.50 favourite and last year’s winner I Am Sam in fourth some 12 metres back from the winner.

The Live Or Die gelding trained by Keith Cotchin and driven by in-form reinsman Gavin Lang clocked a mile rate of 2:00.2 over the 2700m standing start event, breaking the track record previously held by I Am Sam by 1.6 seconds. I Am Sam set the track record with his win in the race last year before he backed-up with a second placing in the coveted BIG6 Hunter Cup. The win was Lang’s fifth Horsham Cup victory.

An ideal lead-up to the BIG6 Hunter Cup, Tanabi Bromac now looks well placed to play a significant part in the $400 000 Group 1 feature at Moonee Valley on February 6 from which his Sunday night win has earned him exemption.

Another highly fancied runner in the Horsham Cup, Maffioso ($5.20) finished a dismal 11^th after surrendering their early lead. A vet’s examination after the race resulted in Maffioso being stood down for 30 days.

Also, the great trotting action over the weekend finished up on Sunday at the same meeting with the feature $10 000 Horsham Trotting Cup taken out by long-priced outsider Sharendoo Lass ($19).

2010 Horsham Pacing Cup Results:

A seven-year-old son of Grinfromeatoear, Mr Feelgood ($6) crossed the line first in the 1720m mobile start sprint, just a half-head in front of the $2.10 favourite Sammy Maguire, with Make Waves ($13.30) nearly two and a half metres back from the winner for third.

Trained by Tim Butt and ridden by Butt’s brother Anthony, Mr Feelgood impressed punters and spectators by triumphing over his awkward outside back-row draw of 11, running without cover over the last 800m, snatching the lead from Sammy Maguire on the straight to win with a blistering mile rate of 1:55.8.

It was the American-bred pacer’s first victory since he took out the Inter Dominion last March and he more than made up for his lacklustre seventh placing last start in the SEW-Eurodrive Victoria Cup last month.

Mr Feelgood’s next major focus is on the BIG6 Hunter Cup, but he should be on the track again this Saturday night in the Bendigo Cup, with the Ballarat Cup also in his sights.

2010 SEW-Eurodrive New Year Sprint Results:

The Ian Wilson-trained Jackson Grant ($10), driven by stable foreman Jim Douglass who also put the final preparatory touches on the winner while trainer Wilson was campaigning Can’t Bluff Me in Melbourne, defeated Our Braham Boy ($8.60) by 1.4m with long-priced outsider Slippery Nemo ($32.10) a further 4.4m back in a surprise third.

The favourite starting the race at $3.70, Cullens Legacy, could only manage to place fifth behind $38 chance Dash Of Class in fourth.

The son of Panorama, Jackson Grant ran a gross time of 3:12.5 over the 2550m staying feature for a mile rate of 2:01:5 giving Wilson his biggest pacing success in over three decades as a hobbyist trainer.

Wilson will trail Jackson Grant in another standing-start cup in Victoria prior to making a decision on whether to aim the late improving pacer in the coveted Big6 Hunter Cup at Moonee Valley on February 6.

2009 Newcastle Cup Results:

The Cran Dalgety-trained Bettors Strike has displayed striking form recently, claiming a sensational victory in the Group 1 SEW-Eurodrive Victoria Cup ahead of a top-class field last week just after running a controversial dead-heat for first in the Group 2 Deacon Cranbourne Cup.

The five-year-old gelding is now vying for back-to-back success in the Barastoc Grand Circuit, Australasia’s premier harness racing series.

Hobart’s Tasmania Cup will be the eighth event in the 15-race series, and Bettors Strike currently sits on second place with seven points following his first place in the Victoria Cup and second place in the NZ Cup. The NZ Cup winner Monkey King is still in the lead with fifteen points, despite only placing fourth in the Victoria Cup last Friday.

Following his run in Tasmania, Bettors Strike will then begin preparation for the next big pacing feature, the $400 000 Group 1 BIG6 Hunter Cup at Moonee Valley on February 6. The race will be the final harness meeting held on a Saturday night at the Moonee Valley venue.