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 WA Cup is shaping up to be a sensational race with an elite field full of Group 1 winning champions eager to claim the lucrative prize and secure another prestigious victory.

Prolific trainer Gary Hall Snr. has four of his top pacers engaged in the final. Indian Giver has drawn ideally with barrier one, but Hall’s other more fancied horses Talk To Me Courage (br.7), Im Themightquinn (br.10) and Alzona (br.12) have all drawn wide.

Hall’s strong contingent will face some truly tough opposition from the likes of the Tony Svilicich-trained Has The Answers and Bonavista Bay, trained and driven by Mark Reed.

Has The Answers last victory was in the Group 1 Australian Pacing Championship a fortnight ago and the seven-year-old gelding will start from barrier nine on Friday night. He is also the most experienced pacer of the bunch having had 104 career starts.

Has The Answers will be driven by Chris Lewis, the chief reinsman competing in his 28^th WA Pacing Cup. Lewis has won the race a total of five times, the second highest number of wins in the event behind Phil Coulson with seven WA Cup victories.

Bonavista Bay is coming off a last start victory in the McInerney Ford Classic and has drawn barrier six in the WA Cup.

Also drawn well in the race and not to be overlooked is the winner of the 2009 Australian Pacing Championship Washakie. The John McCarthy trained and driven six-year-old is set to jump from barrier four and has a 50% strike rate at Gloucester Park, having won 7 of his 14 starts at the track.

Washakie is looking to atone for his unlucky seventh in the WA Pacing Cup last year.

The other highlight race of the meeting will be the WA Pacing Cup Consolation (race six).

The WA Pacing Cup final is scheduled as race seven on the night’s great 10-race programme and is set to start at 8:55pm (WA time).

2010 WA Pacing Cup Final Field & Barrier Draw:

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:

Although the autopsy was inconclusive, Saab’s owner Terry Ferguson advised that the horse’s death may have been caused by a brain embolism.

The 15 year old was leased to Mick Lombardo and had remained at Concorde Park during his stud years.

With the largest crop of 54 foals from Saab’s first six stud seasons, Ferguson will be selling a number of the horse’s progeny at next year’s WA Yearling Sale.

Ferguson raced Saab in partnership with trainer Ross Olivieri who led the horse to 21 career wins and took home $577,197 in stakes.

Before retiring in December 2001, Saab managed to win several prominent races in the harness racing industry including the Group One Golden Slipper Stakes as a two year old, the WA Derby as a three year old and the Golden Nugget and WA Pacing Cup as a four year old.

Saab remains the only horse to win both the Golden Nugget and the WA Pacing Cup as a four year old and he was also only one of two Golden Nugget winners to be sired by a previous Golden Nugget winner with sire Classic Garry winning the race in 1983.

His best win is undeniably the WA Pacing Cup after Gloucester Park was hit by a storm and almost flooded the entire track.

Saab copped barrier nine and came out from last place in the last lap to beat NSW champion Our Sir Vancelot in terrible racing conditions.

During his stud days, Saab managed to sire a total of 52 winners and his success in producing winning foals is expected to continue despite his death.