Racing: Kiwi pacer breaks through magical mark

Allstar Blue Jean's performance shows the gap is narrowing between the US and New Zealand pacers

A pacer who once beat the mighty Elsu at group level has become the fastest standardbred ever from the Southern Hemisphere.

Allstar Blue Jean, who won the 2003 Flying Stakes when trained by Gareth Dixon, paced a 1:48.8 mile at The Meadowlands track in New Jersey on Saturday night (US time), the first time a pacer bred in Australasia has broken 1:49 for a mile.

The six-year-old started favourite in the $30,000 claiming race and won easily for driver Eric Ledford after pacing the opening 800m in 53.1 seconds, sitting in midfield, before being too strong for his rivals down the long Meadowlands straight.

The time is further proof of the closing gap between New Zealand's better pacers and their US counterparts, who for most of the last two decades have been feared as simply too good for our best.

There was a time in the 1960s and 70s when freaks like Cardigan Bay and Young Quinn were able to beat the best in North America but the speed explosion of the 1980s left Kiwi horses behind.

It also saw a wave of poor-quality US stallions to New Zealand where they were able to get handy books of broodmares thanks to their 1:51 mile times and some hyped-up quotes from leading US trainers and drivers.

But while the US still produces the fastest pacers in the world it seems New Zealand breeders are turning towards the local product secure in the knowledge they have raced drug-free.

Champion sire Christian Cullen has led that charge, followed by Courage Under Fire, who has made a great start to his siring career.

And even recently retired champ Elsu looks set for a good start to his stallion career after securing a near- record first season book.

The renewed interest in the domestic product will only be fuelled by the time Allstar Blue Jean paced on Saturday night because it suggests a sub 1:48 pacer - the new golden mark in harness racing - from New Zealand is only a matter of time.

It has been decades since one of New Zealand's best male open class pacers raced at his peak in North America and factors like constitution, ability to handle the changed training environment and getting over the inevitable sickness upon arrival will factor in our horses showing their best in the US.

Yet few experts who have been to the United States in recent years would deny that Christian Cullen or Elsu at their best could have paced a 1:48 mile at The Meadowlands.

Had Elsu travelled to the States for last year's major free-for-alls he would only have needed to race up to his Interdominion form of last season to have won the US Pacing Championship in what was an average year for that grade of pacer.

In fairness to the United States pacers, many of their elite are retired at the end of their three-year-old careers, when they can earn more money in the breeding barn than on the track.

The ongoing debate over just how far the gap between the two countries has changed will also be a talking point at the Interdominions which start in Tasmania on Sunday.

Canterbury trainer Tim Butt has two former US pacers in his stable, Cam's Fool and Articulator.

And while their performances are hardly an accurate guide, they will add fuel to the fire one way or the other.