By MICHAEL GUERIN
BRISBANE - It is nearly an hour after the Interdominion Grand Final and Tony Shaw is standing alongside Yulestar in stable 22 at Albion Park.
He is lying.
He is trying to convincingly say just about anybody could have done what he just did.
"There are 50 drivers in New Zealand who could have driven Yuley to win because he is that good," says Shaw.
"I am just lucky Lorraine and Ron have stuck with me when they could put somebody like Tony Herlihy or Maurice McKendry on the horse."
While Shaw believes the words coming out of his mouth, they are still not true.
There are not 50 drivers in New Zealand who could have done what he did on Saturday night because nobody believes in Yulestar like Shaw.
Just seven days earlier Yulestar had disappointed by battling into fourth in his final heat.
Then on Tuesday he drew one on the second line.
His chances of winning this $A500,000 Grand Final were not looking good.
Here is a horse who all his career has crushed his rivals with epic displays of stamina. A horse who makes his own rules.
And now Shaw had one race to transform him into a sit-sprinter.
"I thought about whether I should pull him off the fence if I got the chance at some stage but I decided to stay there and wait for a gap and try and outsprint them."
So Tony Shaw decided to change the only way Yulestar has known to race all his life during the Interdominion Final.
He believed harness racing's greatest stayer could outsprint harness racing's greatest sprinters.
He was right.
Soon after the start the pair ended up four deep on the markers.
Their race appeared all but over at the 400m before Shaw squeezed Yulestar through a gap that was way too small for a big horse.
Shaw balanced him, then ... bang. Yulestar unleashed a sprint so powerful he won by three-quarters of a length but 50m after the line he was five lengths in front.
"I know how good this horse is.
"To me he is a champion. I knew he could do that."
You might think it was easy for Shaw to adopt that attitude because Yulestar is a great horse.
But hang on a minute.
Before Saturday night Yulestar had won only one minor race in nearly six months.
He had finished unplaced in the Victoria Cup, distressed in the Hunter Cup and couldn't win an Interdominion heat.
Some bookies had him as long as 16-1 on Saturday night and he still paid $13.80 on the local tote. The big horse had plenty of fans but not many supporters.
But he had the one that mattered, the one sitting in the sulky.
Shaw and Yulestar have been through it all together. World record wins and heartbreaking defeats. They have won a New Zealand Cup in front of 20,000 people and worked on a wet track at Wanganui in front of 800.
They trust each other and that is why Shaw knew Yuley could outsprint the best in the business. That is why a former erratic problem child like Yulestar with a long stride not suited to small tracks boldly burst through that tiny gap at the 400m, because Shaw, with one tug on the right rein, told him he could.
Yes, Shaw will tell you there are 50 reinsmen in New Zealand who could do what he did on Saturday night.
But the fact remains he has joined Mark Purdon as only the second active reinsman in New Zealand to have won an Interdominion Pacing Final.
He can add that to his New Zealand Cup and Hunter Cup.
"I suppose it is pretty amazing when you think or all the great drivers who have never won a Grand Final or a New Zealand Cup, and here I am, I've won both. In one season," says Shaw.
So what are the chances a guy who three years ago couldn't get a decent drive could scale heights many of the legends of the industry could not?
Apparently about 50-1.
Racing: Faith in Yulestar drives Shaw to Interdom glory
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