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:

Ten of the country’s most exciting pacers are engaged in the 2600m mobile start feature including Geoff Webster’s talented Barastoc Grand Circuit Winner Mister Zion.

Geoff Websters’ talented Barastoc Grand Circuit winner Mister Zion will face off against Sammy Maguire

Last start winner in his Mildura Cup heat, Mister Zion will jump from barrier five on Saturday with master reinsman Greg Sugars due to drive.

The other winner from last week’s heats was the Gavin Lang-trained and driven Bendigo Cup victor Sammy Maguire who has drawn in the back row on Saturday night in barrier nine.

Trainer Glen Douglas is well represented in the 2010 Mildura Cup with Bunda Cliffs, who Glen with drive, and the consistent Breeders Crown winner Make Mine Cullen starting from barriers three and four respectively.

The 2010 Park Douglas Printing Mildura Pacing Cup is scheduled as race seven at 9:30pm on the night’s bumper nine event card that also features the $24,000 Mark Curry & Associates Cup Final (Race 5)

2010 Mildura Cup Final Field & Barrier Draw:

The 2130m mobile start feature has a quality field of three-year-olds keen to secure a Group race victory including the brilliant Ross Olivieri-trained Crombie.

Drawn in barrier six and due to be driven by reinsman Mark Reed, Crombie is coming off an impressive succession of five victories, the Life Sign colt sure to start as one of the favourites.

One of Crombie’s biggest threats on Friday night comes from his stablemate Dasher VC in barrier eight.

The lightly raced Washington VC gelding has a remarkable record to date having won five of his six career starts and placed second in the other, his most recent four wins in WA for Olivieri following his short career in New Zealand.

Dasher VC will be driven by Chris Lewis in Caduceus Club and has drawn barrier eight.

Olivieri is aiming at his second Caduceus Club victory following his success in 1998 with Saab.

The less than ideal barrier draw for the sensational stablemates means there is a chance for their rivals to get the better run in on the night, with classy pacers including the David Thompson-trained David Hercules, Criminal Minds and last start winner Franco Jazzman drawn well in barriers one, two and four, in that order.

Gary Hall Senior’s Live Or Die gelding Why Live Dangerously (barrier two) will also be drawing lots of attention on Friday night as he makes his Australian race debut.

Other exciting contenders in the event include the consistent Chillin Dylan and Lombo Navigator, drawn wide with barriers 10 and 12 respectively.

The 2010 Caduceus Club 3YO Classic will run as race seven on the night’s bumper ten-event card and is due to commence at 8:45pm.

Another great pacing event to keep an eye on this weekend is the $25, 000 Listed Geelong Cup on Saturday night.

A great 11-horse field is set to fight it out in the 2010 Geelong Cup including two of Geoff Webster’s pacing stars Tear It All Away and Mister Anthony, who Webster will drive, in barriers four and six respectively.

Also engaged in the Cup is defending champion, the Lance Justice trained and driven Our Malabar in barrier nine, the Live Or Die gelding coming off a last start victory in the Watpac Inter Dominion consolation.

If Our Malabar finds success on Saturday night he will become the first ever horse to win back-to-back Geelong Cups.

Trainer Glenn Douglas has Jackson Grant and the talented Notaswethort starting from the top two barriers on Saturday night, while the fast paced Make Waves will jump from barrier three.

Also worth keeping an eye on in the Geelong Cup is Ti Vogliobene in barrier seven, the David Aiken-trained Karlsruhe in barrier eight and Tanabi Bromac in the far outside barrier 11.

The Geelong Cup will jump at 9:32pm as race seven on Saturday night at Geelong.

2010 Caduceus Club 3YO Classic Final Field & Barriers

2010 Geelong Cup Final Field & Barriers

Friday March 12 – Gloucester Park

On Friday night Gloucester Park hosted the $30, 000 Group 3 Hankook Tyres Country Pacing Derby where the pre-race favourite Parsons Dragon ($2.80) claimed his fifth career win.

The Peter Kimberley-trained colt easily defeated Lively Attitude ($9.40) by 7.7m with Aussie Terror ($14.90) 1.5m away in third.

Friday night’s Gloucester Park meeting also featured the $25, 000 Listed RWWA Rising Stars Invitation Ms Pace, where Zed ($9.60) made the most of his inside run to beat home Im Light Hearted ($5.10) by 2.5m with the $3.50 favourite, Mon Hanover in third.

Friday March 12 – Tabcorp Park

The other top pacing event held on Friday night took place at Tabcorp Park, the $25, 000 Pie in the Sky Travel Rising Stars Pace.

Brilliant four-year-old Villagem ($4.70) secured a gutsy 4.4m win, working their way up after sitting one out and four back at the bell to beat home Flyin Interstate ($3.50) with $54.80 roughie Art Trader in third ahead of the favourite Broadways Best ($3.30) in fourth.

Saturday March 13 – Globe Derby

On Saturday night the best pacing action took place at South Australia’s Globe Derby with the running of the $25, 000 Gawler Gold Cup.

Geoff Webster’s five-year-old gelding Mister Anthony reigned supreme after starting as the $2.50 favourite claiming his 13^th win from just 29 career starts.

The son of Life Sign just managed to hold off a fast finishing Shardons Rocket ($2.90) by a short half head while defending champ Conte De Cristo ($8.80) finished over 6 ½ metres back for third.

There are still a number of quality events spread across the weekend worth keeping an eye on and that will give harness enthusiasts and keen bettors plenty to punt on!

Tonight Gloucester Park is set to host a terrific ten-race card headlined by the $30, 000 Group 3 Hankook Tyres Country Pacing Derby Final (2536m). Eleven top pacers are engaged in the scheduled highlight including the in-form Maximum Demand in barrier three coming off two successive victories.

The other main event at Fremantle’s Gloucester Park tonight is the $25, 000 Listed RWWA Rising Stars Invitation Ms Pace (2130m) featuring twelve promising pacers heading for greatness such as Zed drawn ideally in barrier one, and New Zealand galloper Pacific Idol in the back row barrier 10.

The Rising Stars Invitation Ms Pace will run as race five at 7:50pm followed directly after by the Country Pacing Derby, race six at 8:15pm.

Another Rising Stars Pace is also set to take place at Tabcorp Park tonight, when the $25, 000 Pie in the Sky Travel Rising Stars Pace goes off as race seven at 9:42pm.

The most lucrative race on the programme, the Rising Stars Pace in Victoria sees eleven excellent pacers including the Shannon McLean-trained Broadways Best, named the Victorian 3YO Filly of the Year last season and drawn ideally tonight in barrier two, face off against other great names such as Villagem (br. eight), Watchmefella (br. three), Deadsetlucky (br. seven) and Dream Guest in the prized barrier one.

Saturday night all eyes will be on South Australia’s Globe Derby as the Gawler Harness Racing club hosts the 2010 $25, 000 Gawler Gold Cup (2645m). Headline acts in the race this year include interstate raider Shardons Rocket (br. 5), the ever consistent local pacer Ryans Journey drawn awkwardly in eight and last year’s Gawler Gold Cup Conte De Cristo back to defend their title from barrier six.

Also lining up in the Gold Cup is the Geoff Webster-trained and driven Wangaratta Cup winner Mister Anthony in the outside barrier. Mister Anthony has already secured 12 wins from his 28 career starts and looks well positioned to make it a baker’s dozen tomorrow night.

The nine-event card at Gawler has an added bonus on offer for any trainer that wins three of the races at the meeting. Webster has a four-horse strong contingent as he seeks the $5, 000 bonus, made up of three pacers including top two-year-old Dee Devito (Race 2 – Br. 3) and one trotter, the talented Millburn Michael (Race 5 – Br. 7).

The Gawler Gold Cup is scheduled as race six at 8:22pm.

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:

Going out at generous odds of $12.70, the winning In The Pocket colt beat home the warm favourite, Mr Feelgood ($3.20) by 1.2m with Karloo Mick ($5.40) finishing just a neck back in third.

It was a gallant run for the highly fancied Mr Feelgood as he worked hard to overcome his wide draw.

Pacesetter and eventual fourth placegetter, the Geoff Webster-trained Mister Zion, showed great gate speed and led most the way. Still in the lead at the bell by over a meter, Mister Zion driven by Luke McCarthy put in a fantastic effort on the home straight but tiered in the final metres with New South Wales pacer Karloo Mick close on his heels.

Driven by trainer Mark Peace, Cincinnati Kid then got the run on the inside after sitting off the speed and behind the leaders in the early stages, to hit the lead and take home his first Group 1 victory and maiden Barastoc Grand Circuit win.

Cincinnati Kid ran a sharp mile rate of 1:59.8 after a blistering 27.8s final quarter.

Karloo Mick’s driver Greg Bennet lodged a small protest against Anthony Butt, the reinsman behind Mr. Feelgood, over suspected interference in the final few metres, but the protest was upheld.

It was Mark Peace’s second Ballarat Cup following his success back in 1994 with Dark Paul.

The win was Cincinnati Kid’s 22^nd victory from a prolific 98-race career and the $80 000 first prize boosted his total prizemoney earned to $406 595.

2010 Ballarat Pacing Cup Results:

12 elite pacers are ready to fight it out for the prestigious title, including the Geoff Webster-trained champion Mister Zion.

Due to be driven by Luke McCarthy on Saturday, Mister Zion has drawn superbly in barrier one from where the promising pacer can make the most of his great gate speed.

Coming off three successive victories including his win in the Group 1 South Australian Pacing Cup last start, the in-form Red River Hanover gelding will be sure to play a big role in this race and is possibly Webster’s best chance of winning back-to-back Ballarat Cups.

Webster also has gifted four-year-old Tear It All Away engaged in the feature, starting from barrier five, and the defending Ballarat Cup champion Mister Swinger, who he will be driving in barrier 11.

The star studded field also comprises of the brilliant previous winner of the Hunter Cup and the Inter Dominion Mr Feelgood, and last start-winner Sammy Maguire.

The Gavin Lang-trained Sammy Maguire has been stunningly consistent and claimed an impressive victory in the Group 2 Bendigo Pacing Cup last Saturday ahead of Mr Feelgood.

The two will face off again in the Ballarat Cup, Mr Feelgood having the disadvantage of drawing wide with barrier 12 while five-year-old Sammy Maguire has drawn ideally in barrier three.

The most experienced pacer is the John McCarthy trained and driven Be Good Johnny, starting in barrier seven.

The Ballarat Cup, which is also the next leg in the Barastoc Grand Circuit, is scheduled as race seven on the night’s great nine-event card and is due to jump at 10:00pm (VIC time).

The other highlight harness events at the Ballarat meeting will be races three and six, the two semi-finals of the SEW-Eurodrive Inter Dominion Trotting Championship.

2010 Ballarat Pacing Cup Final Field & Barrier Draw:

A line up of the country’s top pacers are ready to do battle in the 2690m standing start event, which has become quite an open affair after a number of the leading contenders have drawn wide.

The highly fancied  Geoff Webster-trained Mister Swinger, dual winner of the Barastoc Grand Circuit, will start from barrier nine just on the outside of the other Grand Circuit champion lining up in the race, Power Of Tara (br.8).

Mister Swinger is one of two entries in the Shepparton Cup for Webster, the other being Tear It All Away, the son of Armbro Operative having drawn far better in barrier two.

Other talented runners starting wide include Tanabi Bromac (br.11) coming off a last-start win in the Horshamp Cup and Ohoka Nevada (br.10). Both starting 10m off on Saturday, these two also share another common factor; they are the only horses of the Shepparton Cup field guaranteed a start in the coveted $400 000 Group 1 BIG6 Hunter Cup.

The winner of the Shepparton Cup is exempt from ballot for the BIG6 Hunter Cup, and with a number of runners keen for the exemption, it will be a tough race.

Currently installed as the odds-on favourite, however, is in-form nine-year-old Karloo Mick who has had sensational success recently, winning three of his last five starts and coming second in the other two.

The ever consistent Panorama gelding still has a lot of work to do however as he starts from barrier 12 in only his second start in Victoria.

Trained by Barry Lew, Karloo Mick is one of the most popular pacers taking to the field on Saturday night and has received quite a following of fans over his imposing 116 career starts.

The other two highlight pacing events at the meeting will be the $25 000 Listed The Lombo Finals. The 2YO Fillies Lombo will run as race two at 7:00pm (VIC time), followed by 2YO Colts & Geldings Lombo Final as race eight at 10:00pm (VIC time).

And trotting fans will be eager to see race five at 8:30pm (VIC time), the $30 000 Group 2 Aldebaran Park E B Cochran Trotters Cup (2690m) featuring the likes of Sundons Gift, Acacia Ridge and In Pursuit.

You can catch the star pacers in action at 9:30pm (VIC time) when the Neatline Homes Shepparton Gold Cup, which is the 14^th race in the 25-leg Choice Hotels Country Cups Carnival, takes place as race seven on the night’s elite nine-race programme.

Shepparton Race Programme – Saturday January 23, 2010:

2010 Shepparton Cup Final Field & Barrier Draw:

The Geoff Webster-trained and driven Mister Zion ($7.80) beat the warm favourite and 2008 SA Cup winner Smoken Up ($1.30) by just a half-neck, with Greg Norman’s Ti Vogliobene ($3.20) in third, giving the winning trainer back-to-back success in the race following his victory last year with Mister Swinger.

The Red River Hanover gelding ran a mile rate of 1:58.7 over the testing 2645m mobile start feature in an impressive all-the-way victory for his maiden Group 1 win at only his 19^th career start. Mister Zion has now won six of his eight starts this season, the last three in succession.

But there was little love lost for runner-up Smoken Up, trained by top horseman Lance Justice, who fought hard throughout a horribly unlucky run, coming from second-last, three wide without cover, to challenge the lead in the closing lap.

2010 SA Pacing Cup Results: