Racing: Kiwi star may need miracle

Terror To Love faces a stern test to add the Miracle Mile title to his NZ Cup success. Photo / Getty Images

The odds are stacked against Terror To Love as he takes on Australia's top speedsters.

Two weeks ago, Terror To Love was being hailed as one of our greatest-ever pacers after his record third New Zealand Cup win.

Now, you can get $10 about him to win Saturday's A$750,000 Miracle Mile in Sydney, without the magnificent Canterbury stallion having done a thing wrong in the interim.

Welcome to November, the longest month in harness racing.

With so many huge races on both sides of the Tasman crammed into a few weeks, November is the month that can change horses' careers for ever.

And what seemed reality at the start of the month is quickly replaced by what has unfolded since.

After all, two weeks ago this morning Christen Me was the NZ Cup and Miracle Mile favourite. Now, he is just another face in the Miracle Mile crowd.

The first step down that path was when Terror To Love overcame his early gallop in the Cup and stamped himself an all-time great.

Fast forward 14 days and a bad barrier draw in the Mile makes him a relative outsider.

It goes both ways, though. A few days ago Smoken Up was a warhorse who had been in too many wars, now he is the Mile favourite, an 11-year-old who attracted a bet of $5000 at $3.20 to win the Mile in Sydney yesterday.

Pacing's landscape is changing so fast who knows who will be flavour of the month by the time the dust settles after the Mile on Saturday night?

But one thing the men behind Terror To Love are certain of is the big horse is more ready now for the unique challenges of Menangle than he ever has been before.

Terror To Love has had five starts at the home of Sydney harness racing and his form actually hasn't been too bad - second in last April's rescheduled Miracle Mile and fourth in an Interdominion Final.

But that looks poor compared with his Addington form, where he is near-on unbeatable in the biggest races.

He is not the only visitor to Menangle to struggle at the elite level as the explosive early sectionals of mile racing there gets many horses out of their aerobic comfort zone extremely quickly.

And he hasn't been aided by poor draws either, which again looms as a problem from barrier six this week.

Co-trainer Paul Court says Terror To Love might be more prepared now for the rigours of a sub 1:50 mile this weekend.

"I don't think it is his fault how he has gone there before, with the draws really taking him out of play," says Court.

"But as good as his first two Cup wins were, what he did two weeks ago was pretty incredible.

"So I think he is stronger now and he has been to Menangle enough times to have his head around it. So I think we are going there with a better horse. But we might need to be."

As strong as the Interdom Final and the two previous Miracle Miles that Terror To Love has been in were, Saturday's race is on another level, with every starter probably capable of a sub 1:50 mile and maybe half of the eight ready to run 1:49.

Which leaves Court and driver Ricky May hoping that their arch rival might end up being his best friend.

Terror To Love is drawn alongside Christen Me, his fellow Kiwi pacer who likes to roll forward in his races and is unbeaten in two hot Mile races at Menangle. If May can put Terror To Love straight on to the back of Christen Me and get dragged into a handy position they have a chance.

If he has to settle beyond midfield and come wide without cover he will need the proverbial miracle.

And Cup Day at Addington will seem a very long time ago.

Long November

What: A$750,000 Miracle Mile.
Where: Menangle, outside Sydney.
When: 11.30pm NZ time on Saturday.
/strong> Kiwi stars Terror To Love and Christen Me against two-time winner Smoken Up.