Australian trainers Brian Dean and Steven Burridge got closer to pose for the cameras after their two runners Kai Power and Dark Pulse could not be split in a photo finish on Friday night.
The $60,000 Open Benchmark 67 race over 1800m looked all sewn up for $103 longshot Dark Pulse (A’Isisuhairi Kasim) after he swept past race-leader Marea Negro (Alan Munro) to shoot clear halfway up the straight. Kai Power (Erasmus Aslam), the $18 favourite, at that moment spotted Dark Pulse around six lengths and was caught behind horses, seemingly a forlorn chance to give his legion of backers any cheers.
But the complexion of the race shifted radically inside the last 150m when Kai Power managed to get out in the clear and attacked the line with plenty of resolve under Aslam’s urgings. Upfront, Dark Pulse was sending signals of distress, but was somehow still hanging in for dear life.
Dean’s charge lunged late and the pair finished locked together, with the naked eye unable to tell with absolute certainty who had gained the verdict. When the judge’s numbers were semaphored, it turned out to be a dead-heat, much to the delight of both horses’ connections.
“I would have been filthy if he had run second. I’ll take the dead-heat anytime,” said Dean who also owns Kai Power, a five-year-old by little-known Australian sire Bramshaw.
“He was too far out of his ground. Even when he was charging home, I thought he would have finished fourth or fifth.
“But there is not much left for him now. He will be in the “consolation stakes” on Gold Cup day, unless some of the horses in the Gold Cup fall away.
“He’s fully acclimatised now and he’s done very well considering he was coming off one preparation. He’ll be a much better horse next year, especially in the staying races.
“The best thing about him is he’s not just a 2000m horse. You can run him over 1400m and 1600m too and he still runs well.”
Given Burridge had not been holding his breath about Dark Pulse’s chances before the race, the win, or half-win was a more than welcome bonus for the yard, especially after wins had eluded him since his double with Hermano Menor and Confiero on October 5.
“He’s an in-and-out performer and the dead-heat is better than nothing,” said Burridge.
“He went a bit forward at his last start but this time he took a sit and that worked better for him. Harry rode him well.
“He got a bit lost in the straight and I thought he would get beat when the other horse came, but he did a good job to just get there.”
Third another 2 ½ lengths away was Billy Britain (Rueven Ravindra) who rattled home late to just edge out My Dancing Duel (Corey Brown) by a neck. The winning time for the 1800m on the Long Course was 1min 49.36secs.
Aslam and A’Isisuhairi also had different tales to tell, but both did not mind the win-win outcome, especially for the latter in his bid to defend his champion apprentice jockey’s title.
“He can be a difficult horse to ride, but he did travel nicely around the bend tonight,” said A’Isisuhairi.
“At the top of the straight, I was a bit worried when he seemed to get lost. When I saw Aslam coming at me in the last 50m, I thought we’d lose but he just hung in there.
“The win is good as unlike in New Zealand where a dead-heat is worth ½ win, here it is still one win.”
Indeed, with that result, A’Isisuhairi is back on top of the heap, sharing the lead with Noh Senari on 30 wins, but is in front on a better countback for seconds (40 versus 30).
As for Aslam, he was rueing the fact he had not seen daylight earlier or he might have been the sole visitor at the winner’s stall.
“I wasn’t worried where he was in the race as I know he’s got a nice turn of foot,” said Aslam.
“He was winding up very well, but I had nowhere to go in the home straight. I had to push Barend (Vorster aboard Hippo Prospero) out to get a clear run.
“He made ground well and I’m glad he got there right in the nick of time.”
Given the two horses shared the spoils, the dividends were halved with Kai Power returning only $9 while the Hippocrates Stable-owned Dark Pulse, a US-bred four-year-old by Midnight Lute, still paid a fairly handsome $51 to his backers.
