Australasian record for Maori Time

It was the perfect warm-up drive for the Miracle Mile later in the evening.

Yet even birthday boy Todd McCarthy could hardly have expected to set an Australasian harness racing record with a stunning all-the-way win on Maori Time rating 1:51.5 in the Access Group Solutions Trotters Mile.

Todd, who turns 25 today, took Maori Time straight to the front in the Group One and basically just made them chase him all the way, breaking Flying Isa's record of 1:53.2 in scoring by five and a quarter metres from Daryl Boko with War Dan Destroyer a fast-finishing third.

It makes Maori Time the fastest square-gaiter this country has ever seen.

"He ran a fantastic race and I couldn't ask for anything more than setting a record like this . . . it's pretty special," said Todd.

Ironically the previous record was set by Todd's big brother Luke but nothing could be taken away from the Brent Lilley-trained Victorian visitor who got out of the mobile in a 26.8 split before Todd was able to back the speed off slightly with a 29.4 second quarter.

Then Todd put the handlebars down and came away from his rivals with splits of 27s and 28.3 for a win that the legions of square-gaiting fans could only have dreamt about a few years ago.

Menangle was on fire and Todd admitted he was champing at the bit for a repeat performance when he hops behind Tiger Tara later in the night in the $750,000 Ainsworth Miracle Mile.
 

2	6:50pm	ACCESS GROUP SOLUTIONS TROTTERS MILE (GROUP 1)	1609M
		$50,000 RBD. Mobile	Results

Pl	Horse	Prize- money		Row & Br	TAB #	Trainer	Driver (C = Concession)	Mgn (m)	Starting odds	Stewards' Comments
1	MAORI TIME			Fr4	4	Brent Lilley	Todd McCarthy		$ 10.00
	BAY MARE 8 by PEGASUS SPUR CA out of SUNDONNA (SUNDON USA)  Owner(s): F (Fredrick) Crews  Breeder(s): F (Fredrick) Crews
2	DARYL BOKO FIN			Fr1	1	Tim Butt	Anthony Butt	5.3m	$ 2.20 fav
3	WAR DAN DESTROYER			Fr2	2	Michael Doltoff	Luke McCarthy	14.6m	$ 33.00
4	KYVALLEY BLUR USA			Fr8	9	Brent Lilley	Chris Alford	20.8m	$ 4.70
5	IONA GRINNER			Fr6	6	Troy Williams	Robert Morris	27.6m	$ 91.60
6	ROMPERS MONARCHY NZ			Fr5	5	J A Rando, M J Rando	David Morris	27.7m	$ 108.10
7	VINCENNES			Fr10	12	Anton Golino	Jason Lee	28.2m	$ 12.30
8	MY TRIBECA ITA			Fr7	7	Anton Golino	Nathan Jack	46.3m	$ 8.40
9	ON THUNDER ROAD NZ			Fr3	3	Darren Hancock	Darren Hancock	51.2m	$ 6.80
10	BLAZING UNDER FIRE NZ			Fr9	11	Blake Fitzpatrick	Blake Fitzpatrick	343.4m	$ 95.70

Scratchings
MICHAEL THOMAS	8
SHETLAND	10

Track Rating:		Gross Time: 1:51:5	Mile Rate: 1:51:5
First Quarter: 26.8	Second Quarter: 29.4	Third Quarter: 27	Fourth Quarter: 28.3
Margins: 5.3m x 9.3m

Sean Vella