Luke McCarthy's winning double

Ace reinsman Luke McCarthy made it a winning double when his smart black pacer Mac Bon (McWicked) outsprinted his harness racing rivals to take out the $100,000 IRT Breeders Crown for two year old colts and geldings at Melton last night.

Allen McDonough almost stole the race when he took Arsensio to the lead from a wide barrier. Mac Bon secured the perfect trail behind the leader, but the other fancied candidate Fair Play had to work up three wide in the run.

Arsenio slipped clear on the final bend but in doing so he allowed Mac Bon to finish with a flourish and, although he hesitated on taking the lead, had over a metre to spare from Arsenio with In An Ideal World running a great race for third placing.

The youngsters ran a slick 1.53.7 for the 2240 metres and a final quarter of 27.5 seconds.

Favourite Hesitate inexplicably galloped on settling down and appeared to be fired up. He broke again during the run and trainer Damian Burns indicated that he will go for a well earned spell.

Mac Bon has taken out the IRT Breeders Crown two-year-old colts and geldings' final for trainer-driver Luke McCarthy. The talented reinsman has now driven a Group 2 double at Melton tonight. pic.twitter.com/vmJCjrFqWs

— The Trots (@TheTrotsComAu) November 16, 2024

Mac Bon was prepared early in his career by Forbes trainer who then sent him to McCarthy’s stable to concentrate on feature races. 

Luke McCarthy was modest in his success.

“He’s a very relaxed customer. It’s great to get a good horse on board. A big thank you to peter and Isobel Welsh who looked after him at their stables. Also a mention to Craig Cross and Brian Rossiter. They’ve done all the work with him while I was in America. I just drove him for tonight. I’m very happy for the owners. We gelded him and gave him a bit of time and he’s turned into a real nice horse. He’s kept improving  and he’s got a good attitude. I’m sure he’s going to win a lot of races. He’ll learn from that run. I’m really happy for him.”

At this stage, following a short let up, Mac Bon will be set for the feature classics next season, starting with the New South Wales Derby in late February.

Earlier McCarthy piloted consistent pacer Perfect Class to take out the $75,000 VHRC Caduceus Classic when he edged out stablemates Like A Wildfire and Mach Dan.

For complete race results, click here.

by Tony Milanese, for Harnesslink