Australian champion might be only pacer who can ruin the Party

Republican Party was far too good for his rivals in the NZBS Flying Stakes at Ashburton on Monday. Photo / Ajay Berry

The argument is over, now the real fight begins.

That was the undeniable feeling after Republican Party again thrashed most of our best pacers in the $60,000 NZBS Flying Stakes at Ashburton on Monday.

The little pacer with the oversized motor recorded his third straight comprehensive victory over our pacing elite and more or less in the same style.

Step safely, settle then launch, spending the invaluable currency that is respect to wrest the lead and, from there, play catch-me-if-you-can.

At the moment, they can’t.

Northern star Merlin wasn’t there yesterday but every other New Zealand pacer who matters was and Republican Party is simply too good for them this spring.

Luck, manners and other intangibles will come into play for the $1million IRT New Zealand Cup at Addington on November 11 but on the evidence of the last month it is pointless arguing there is another pacer in the country racing at Republican Party’s level.

That means co-trainer Cran Dalgety, one of our great trainers in the last three decades, has his best chance of winning the one race that really matters to almost every Canterbury harness trainer: The Cup.

The problem is while Republican Party is a near bomb-proof son of the incomparable stallion Bettors Delight, there is an even better son of Bettors Delight targeting the NZ Cup in Leap To Fame.

Republican Party is very, very good. Leap To Fame is a champion.

Depending on who you listen to two-time NZ Cup winner Swayzee could also be crossing the Tasman again while Victoria Cup winner Kingman is being touted as a NZ Cup contender.

So having potentially beaten the resistance out of the locals, Republican Party is one border closure away from being close to a good thing in the iconic race at Addington on November 11.

“We know how good, or should that be great, Leap To Fame is and we have all seen what Swayzee has done the last two years,” says Republican Party’s confident young driver, Carter Dalgety.

“But maybe we have closed the gap on them a bit. We are right where we need to be and they aren’t here yet.

“So we will go out there and do our best and, if they can come over here and beat us – like they have before – then it is good for harness racing.

“In any sport you want to see the best against the best to measure yourself.”

On November 11, the Dalgetys and their little horse who can will do just that.

But the way the road to this New Zealand Cup has unfolded, don’t be surprised if there is another unexpected turn on the road to Addington.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.