Racing: Driver switch for Adore Me

Adore Me has already scared one competitor off the Taylor Mile-Messenger double. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Training great Mark Purdon has been forced to give up the drive on champion pacing mare Adore Me as he stretches stable resources to the limit.

And that will mean Blair Orange partners the multiple group one winning mare in Saturday's $100,000 Easter Cup as well as the Taylor Mile at Alexandra Park 13 days later.

Adore Me returned to her home track with a career-best performance last Friday, overcoming a 40m handicap to destroy stablemate Border Control and break the national 2600m standing start record by over two seconds.

So incredible was her time of 3:8.7, it was 2.8 seconds inside the previous record and only 0.2 of a second outside the national record for a mobile 2600m.

"That was the best run of her career," said Purdon, who trains the glamour mare with Natalie Rasmussen. "And I thought she might have been underdone. That was just amazing."

But as much as Purdon loves Adore Me, he has to hand Orange the reins for her next two starts as he chases huge money in Australia.

He has lined up three starters in heats of the Australian Pacing Gold in Sydney in the last 10 days and all have won, suggesting he could have the favourites in both A$300,000 ($325,000) finals in a few weeks.

"But I have to go back for Supersonic Miss in the fillies semifinal in Sydney this Saturday and when she [Adore Me] races in the Taylor Mile I will be at Melton driving Follow The Stars in the boys final," said Purdon.

"I am sure Blair will take good care of her and while the clash is a bit unfortunate we are lucky to have horses in all these good races."

The Purdon-Rasmussen team are averaging nine wins a week this month and are up to 112 wins in New Zealand this season, suggesting they should break Purdon's personal best of 138 set two seasons ago when training with Grant Payne.

The all-time New Zealand record of 168, set when his father Roy and brother Barry trained in partnership in 1994, still looks safe though.

Purdon will send three more horses north this week to target the huge stake increases for Auckland Trotting Club meetings at Alexandra Park and expects to have at least a handful of horses here for most northern meetings.

And the usually conservative superstar admits his crop of two-year-old pacers may be the strongest he has ever trained after Alta Orlando beat stablemate Hug The Wind in the $40,000 Welcome Stakes last Friday.

While Adore Me is clearly ready for her rematch with Auckland Cup conqueror Terror To Love in the Easter Cup, the connections of both will be sweating on whether the group one even gets off the ground.

It has only drawn seven nominations and Addington could look at scrapping it if the final acceptance gets below six.

That would appear unlikely and Terror To Love will warm up for his defence of the Cup in a 2400m trial at Ashburton today, in which he starts off 40m behind.

Meanwhile, Victorian speed freak Chilli Palmer has pulled out of the Taylor Mile-Messenger double after trainer Dean Braun was stunned by Adore Me's win last Friday.

"While we would love to be there it is hard to go take her on in that sort of form and knowing we would need to run placings in both races to qualify for the Jewels," said Braun.

Victorian trotter Zedalite, trained by Kiwi horseman Brent Lilley, arrives in Auckland this week to be aimed at the Rowe Cup meeting.

Easy to love

• Adore Me smashed another national record last Friday.

• She will need a new driver for her next two starts.

• She has four more starts this season: Easter Cup, Taylor Mile, Messenger and Harness Jewels.