Blacks A Fake's freakish Interdominion story may not be over yet.
The amazing pacer wrote the latest chapter in his unbelievable association with the transtasman series when he produced a career-best performance to hold out Monkey King in the A$1 million Interdominion Final last night.
It was his fourth Grand Final victory and should have been his fifth as he only went down on the line last year after being savaged in front.
That ranks alongside the greatest records in the history of racing anywhere in the world, up there with Makybe Diva's three Melbourne Cups and Kingston Town's three Cox Plates.
And he did it by producing a new weapon in his arsenal, coming from three back on the outside, sitting three wide for the last 1000m of the race.
That left him a sitting duck for favourite Monkey King, who tracked him throughout the race but simply wasn't good enough to run past the champ.
"Our horse went great but we were beaten by a freak -simple as that," said Monkey King's trainer Brendon Hill.
Nobody could argue that, with Blacks A Fake taking his earning to A$4.1 million - the second highest amount in pacing history - courtesy of 61 wins from 82 starts.
But the horse with nothing left to prove may not be finished yet.
While most people presumed last night would be his final Interdominion, trainer-driver Natalie Rasmussen may not be so sure.
"We haven't made a decision on retirement yet," she told the Herald.
"I think he will come back next season and we will take it from there.
"I won't keep racing him when he is just going around and getting beaten by inferior horses but who knows, maybe we could be back for the Inter next season."
That could mean a first trip to New Zealand for the great horse, with next season's series to be run at Addington.
Last night's win wasn't just historic for harness racing but even more satisfying for Rasmussen than Blacks A Fake's previous three Inter triumphs.
The extra spice came from the fact the 9-year-old was almost retired in December after substandard runs in the Miracle Mile and Victoria Cups.
But as he has done so many times before, he rose again, cleansweeping this series.
The fact that he was able to come from off the speed for the first time in three seasons and still win was aided by the record-smashing tempo of the race, with Washakie setting up a 1:53.7 mile rate for the 2300m.
That made it all the more surprising that Kiwi favourite Monkey King could not run past Blacks A Fake, with driver Ricky May suggesting he might have been just off his game.
"He wasn't travelling as well as he usually does," said May.
Of course, a 1:53.7 mile rate over 2300m will do that to a horse.
Smoken Up was tremendously brave in third, with Changeover storming home for fourth, the same placing he filled in similar style last season.
The rest of the Kiwi contingent never looked like winning hopes.
Our Awesome Armbro was the worst, battling after trailing, the searing tempo simply too much for him.
BLACKOUT
* Blacks A Fake won his record fourth Interdominion Final last night.
* He left no excuses for his rivals, sitting three wide for the last 1000m.
* Blacks A Fake may even return for a sixth shot at the title next season.
* Kiwi favourite Monkey King was second and Smoken Up third.
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