by Jonny Turner
Canterbury reinsman Tim Williams made the most of his catch drive behind Heisenberg when guiding the pacer to a national record breaking win in Thursday’s Central Otago Cup.
The Robert Dunn trained 4yr-old confirmed he was back to his absolute peak following his win in the Ashburton Cup when taking 0.1sec off the national record for 2400m and breaking the Wyndham track record to win the group 3 feature.
Williams allowed Heisenberg to roll strongly in front after spearing him to the lead early from barrier 5.
The strong tempo was enough to get the Robert Dunn trained pacer in a nice rhythm, but it clearly was not to the liking of rival drivers, who injected more speed in to the event at its halfway point.
“The maidens had gone 2.57, so I thought we would be on track to go faster than that,” Williams said.
“And then when those horses came around with a lap to go, they put even more speed in to it.”
“My horse had blinds on and he was already travelling, so we were really rolling along down the back straight.”
Heisenberg stopped the clock in the sizzling time of 2.52.4.
Ill-fated pacer, The Dorchester, previously held the national record for 2400m from behind the mobile at 2.52.5
Williams traded places with regular driver, John Dunn, who had commitments taking a team with his father, Robert, to Blenheim to race on Friday.
The winning reinsman did not hesitate in taking the reins behind Heisenberg when Dunn called.
“Johnny gave me a strong push for the horse, he was pretty confident with him going in to it.”
“He is a really nice horse, I had driven him before, so it was great to get back on him.”
“It was a great result for the owners, too.”
“Ross and Angela Gordon go a long way back with the Dunns.”
Williams also goes a long way back with the Dunn stable.
The driver worked for Robert when he was a junior driver, before eventually taking up his current position at the All Stars stable.
The mid race pressure Heisenberg sustained and his brilliant winning time meant there were few excuses among the beaten runners in the re-running of yesterday’s feature.
Nandolo tried his best to run down the leader along the passing lane, after dropping in to the trail at the 500m and got within a half-neck of Heisenberg at the finish.
Outsider Kilowatt Kidd was a length and a half behind them in third.
Robyns Playboy, who finished fifth, previously held the Wyndham 2400m mobile record at 2.53.0.
Earlier at yesterday’s meeting promising filly Watch Me Now also impressed when breaking a Wyndham track record.
The Kirstin Barclay and Paul Ellis trained 3yr-old turned heads with a sensational effort to win her mile (1609m) event in 1.53.4.
Racing three wide early and then parked outside the leader was not enough to stop Watch Me Now from thrashing her rivals by more than four lengths.
Barclay, who drove Watch Me Now to win, said she had been impressed with the filly since the first time she sat in the sulky behind her in training.
“The first time I drove her at home she gave me a really great feel.”
“She is a big tank – she has been that size since she arrived at our place.”
“She is a lovely filly.”
Watch Me Now has the potential to get even better as she is still learning about racing.
The 3yr-old broke in her last start at Winton in a quality field.
Though it was not entirely her fault, greenness did not help her cause.
“She doesn’t know what to do yet.’
“It is onwards and upwards, hopefully there is a bit more improvement in her yet.”
The Southland Oaks is Watch Me Now’s big goal this season.
Watch Me Now took 0.8sec Seaswift Joy’s previous mile (1609m) track record for 3yr-old fillies of 1.54.2
