Racing: Monkey the horse to beat in Mile

Ricky May drives Monkey King to victory in the New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington on November 9. Photo / Simon Baker

Punters wanting to back Kiwi hero Monkey King in tonight's A$500,000 ($641,500) SEW Eurodrive Miracle Mile should ignore the hype and concentrate on three facts.

Because they all point to the defending champion taking out harness racing's greatest sprint again.

Every year Miracle Mile week is crammed with claims and counter-claims as rival drivers try to gain a mental edge.

It is often entertaining rubbish but over the past two decades has added to the mystique of the Mile, which now it has moved to Menangle has become a race truly worthy of its name.

This week Aussie stars like Lance Justice and Natalie Rasmussen were in rare form, both saying they will attack the other and adamant they would come out on top.

Mr Feelgood's driver Luke McCarthy chimed in by saying he may launch at the start from barrier eight while even Monkey King's trainer Brendon Hill didn't discount his champ leading on a Sydney radio show this week.

"Of course we all know there is no way that will happen but everybody else was doing it so I wanted to keep them guessing," Hill laughed to the Herald.

But quotes and hype don't pay the bills, facts do. And the important ones are this:

* The three fastest miles ever paced in Australasia have all been at Menangle.

* In all three of those races the winners were handy at the 600m and no horses made serious ground from the back.

* And the horses who burned the hottest at the start didn't win.

Simple as that. Menangle, particularly in a Miracle Mile, is about staying handy, not going nuts early and then punching home up the straight.

Put those ingredients into just about any scenario you see for tonight's race and Monkey King is the horse to beat.

If Blacks A Fake leads from barrier two and Smoken Up attacks from barrier four, Monkey King falls in the one-one without expending any energy from barrier three. Reverse that, with Smoken Up leading and Blacks A Fake attacking, you still have Monkey King in the one-one, stalking.

And if even one rival from out wide explodes off the mobile and gets across in front, it would have used up crucial energy and will be attacked by Smoken Up or Blacks A Fake. And that still leaves Monkey King cruising along, handy on the outer waiting to pounce.

That doesn't guarantee he will win, as he will still have to run past some great horses but it definitely makes him the logical bet in the race.

As great as Blacks A Fake is mile racing has never really been his go. If he wins tonight he is arguably the greatest ever Australian pacer. But at $4.40 he is too short to take the chance on so rather than back him just enjoy him for what he is.

But for each way punters Smoken Up is the value danger to Monkey King. He adores Menangle, ditto the relentless nature of Mile racing and is rock-hard fit. But he sure knows how to get beat in a really big race, having been placed in an Interdominion, Hunter Cup, two NZ Cups and last year's Miracle Mile.

Mr Feelgood is the opposite. He knows how to win the biggest ones and after losing form last season was a revelation over the winter.

He has typically been at his most potent following a hot pace so might get his chance, possibly with the help of quasi stablemate Washakie giving him a cart into the race.

Victorian pacer Villagem was special winning the Chariots Of Fire on this track in July and could be the next top Australian pacer so also has a blowout hope.

But in the end the Miracle Mile may come down to the fact Monkey King is at least as good, if not better, than the Aussies at the moment and set to get the most economical trip.

Which makes anything over $3 worth taking.