Old Town Road’s move comes at a turbulent time in the open class pacing ranks, with the recent retirement of Self Assured and two-time New Zealand Cup winner Copy That not certain to race again.
Last week saw another shock move as Don’t Stop Dreaming left trainer Nathan Purdon to join fellow Canterbury trainer Hayden Cullen in what was an owner’s call.
Nathan Purdon had only just taken over the sole training of Don’t Stop Dreaming after his father Mark has taken a step away from the training business and with all the changes in the open class ranks Don’t Stop Dreaming and Merlin are considered the two best open class pacers still racing in New Zealand.
To see Don’t Stop Dreaming leave the All Stars property is a surprise although one with a touch of irony as he joins Cullen, who used to be Mark Purdon’s training partner and is now doing a fine job with a small team.
The other major move is unbeaten superstar Millwood Nike moving north to join Mark Purdon, who is now based in Matamata as a lifestyle choice.
Purdon was keen to take a step back from day-to-day harness racing training and work on developing his thoroughbreds, primarily as a hobby but now looks set to train both Millwood Nike and Trotter of the Year Oscar Bonavena from the Matamata galloping track.
He is still training in partnership with Nathan albeit in a greatly reduced hand-ons capacity and Millwood Nike and Oscar Bonavena heading north was a team decision.
Purdon works both harness horses on the inside all-weather tracks there after the thoroughbreds have worked in the mornings, while they can be transported to Cambridge or Morrinsville for fast work or trials.
Millwood Nike hasn’t raced since December after a small tear was found in a front tendon but recent scans have suggested that has repaired and she is fine to go back to work.
Unbeaten in 17 starts, Millwood Nike is one of the all-time great New Zealand pacing fillies and if she can stay sound and continue to develop she could rival Merlin and Don’t Stop Dreaming for the title of our most talented horse.
Meanwhile, while Dickie won’t be taking Old Town Road to the races any time soon he has two winning chances bookending the programme at Cambridge tonight. Bolt For The Hill (R1, No 4) starts Dickie’s night as a huge winning chance in the maiden trot, having finished fifth in the Northern Trotting Derby two starts ago.
“He is a very nice horse and will be very hard to beat,” said Dickie. He will be driven by part owner Stephanie Burley who will also partner the Dickie-trained Sharkie’s Girl (No 6) in the last race.
“She is a good, fast mare who is a lot more comfortable at Cambridge [left-handed] than Alexandra Park,” explains Dickie. “It is a nice field for this grade but she is always a chance in a race like this.”
Sharkie’s Girl does meet a high quality mare in Wicked Wanda, who stormed home in her resumption race at Alexandra Park last start and even from a wide draw at the tricky Cambridge mile start point she is the one to beat.
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.
