17°C 
Alexandra Park (NZ)
Väder Auckland
On paper tonights $145,000 Rowe Cup for elite class trotters at the harness racing meeting at Alexandra Park looked a one horse race with Stent in outstanding form and a clear favourite...read on
FFAT 3.200 m auto Purse: $150 000
| Plc | Bk | Horse | Barrier | Hcap | Stakes | Fav | Time | Margin | Driver | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Stent | 3 | fr | 81,375.00 | 1/1 | 4-03.6 | - | C J DeFilippi | C J & J DeFilippi |
| 2 | 6 | Master Lavros | 6 | fr | 26,040.00 | 2/3 | 4-03.6 | 0.20 | M P Jones | M P Jones |
| 3 | 2 | Alley Way | 2 | fr | 13,020.00 | 6/6 | 4-04.1 | 2.80 | M J Williamson | N A Skinner |
| 4 | 10 | One Over Da Moon | U1 | fr | 6,510.00 | 9/9 | 4-04.9 | 6.60 | D J Butt | P C Nairn |
| 5 | 4 | King Denny | 4 | fr | 3,255.00 | 5/5 | 4-04.9 | 6.80 | Mark Purdon | M Purdon & Ms N C Rasmussen |
| 6 | 5 | Mum's Pride | 5 | fr | 2,475.00 | 4/4 | 4-05.0 | 7.30 | J P Stormont | J P Stormont |
| 7 | 1 | Springbank Sam | 1 | fr | 2,475.00 | 8/8 | 4-05.0 | 7.40 | P M Williamson | P M Williamson |
| 8 | 9 | Dr Hook | 9 | fr | 2,475.00 | 11/11 | 4-08.9 | 26.80 | Z E Butcher | B Purdon |
| 9 | 8 | Flying Isa | 8 | fr | 2,475.00 | 10/10 | 4-09.2 | 28.20 | T P McCarthy | J W Dickie & J I Dickie |
| Pup | 7 | Sheemon | 7 | fr | 2,475.00 | 3/2 | D J Dunn | K D Townley | ||
| Pup | 11 | Kincaslough | U2 | fr | 2,475.00 | 7/7 | J R Dunn | C D & Miss A D Edmonds |
Trainer: Trainer: C J & J DeFilippi
Owner: Owner: T G Casey
Breeder: Breeder: T G Casey,M J Bowden,Mrs J M Bowden
| Stent. |
On paper tonights $145,000 Rowe Cup for elite class trotters at the harness racing meeting at Alexandra Park looked a one horse race with Stent in outstanding form and a clear favourite.
Plenty of pundits were concerned about it being his first standing start for nearly five months and the 3200 metres was another query that was also regularly mentioned in the lead up to the race.
As it turned out Stent trotted away brilliantly for Colin De Filippi from the stand to grab an early lead over Alley Way and Matthew Williamson.
Mark Jones was away well with the defending champ Master Lavros and worked forward and took over the lead from Stent after 700 metres.
There was no loitering in front as Mark Jones looked to take a bit of the speed out those in pursuit of Master Lavros and he kept the tempo up the whole way.
Applying even more pressure as they went past the 400 metres mark, it was clear as they turned for home that Master Lavros only had one serious challenger and that was Stent who waited for the passing lane to lodge his challenge.
These two knuckled down to fight it out and Stent got in the deciding stride to claim his first of the big 3200 metres cups
To Master Lavros's credit it took Stent every inch of the straight at Alexander Park to get his head in front right on the line.
Alley Way was 2 3/4 lengths back in third which was a great effort first up in the big time and there was a further four lengths back to One Over Da Moon in fourth.
Stent trotted the 3200 metres from a stand in a very quick 4:03.6, a mile rate of 2:02.4 with closing setionals of 57.9 and 28.
The time was a new race record, taking one point six seconds off the old record held by I Can Doosit.
Colin De Filippi was very emotional on returning to scale, fighting back the tears.
" My father won this race forty years ago and it really means so much to me to win this race."
" It is a race I have wanted to win for a long time so its very special."
" I can't say enough about what a great owner Trevor Casey has been to train for."
" Even when things weren't going that well early in Stent's career, Trevor never even once questioned what I was doing"
" He deserves all the success he is having," Colin said.
It has been a stellar season for the son of Dream Vacation with tonights win his 13th from just 18 starts this season with earnings of $637,216
WorldClass
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