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Self Assured and Mark Purdon have won Group I of the New Zealand Trotting Cup.
Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen’s All Stars stable pulled the trifecta with Spankem second and Ashley Locaz third.
Race favorite Copy That and Blair Orange were left behind in a controversial stand-up start that seemed to give outside runners an advantage as they took all the momentum in the race from a poignant start as the insiders their feet were caught off guard.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images
Winning rider Mark Purdon celebrates with Self Assured co-coach Natalie Rasmussen after winning the New Zealand Trotting Cup.
The start of the 3,200-meter race will dominate the consequences of the Cup.
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John Morrison, who led outsider Di Caprio to a more than credible finish in fifth place, saw his chances significantly inconvenient after starting inside the second row behind Copy That.
“That start was probably not fair for a lot of horses,” Morrison said on Trackside TV.
It was the second start attempt in the Cup after starter Peter Lamb deflected the field on the first attempt less than a minute earlier.
Purdon raised concerns in the run-up to the race over whether Self Assured would walk away from the start on his feet after several failed attempts this season, but the five-year-old Bettor’s Delight gelding quickly starts off as an old pro.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images
Mark Purdon and Self Assured take off from the field to win the New Zealand Trotting Cup.
“It was fast today, it was very fast,” Purdon said on the Trackside TV broadcast.
“I don’t know why today, but he picked the right day,” Purdon said. “I am grateful that he did well today.”
Self Assured is owned by the prolific Australian owner Jean Feiss.
A packed crowd packed into Addington on Tuesday for Cup Day.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images
Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen have won the New Zealand Trotting Cup with Self Assured.
Purdon and Rasmussen have already coached six of the last seven Cup champions.
Tuesday’s victory with Self Assured was Purdon and Rasmussen’s fifth consecutive victory in the most prestigious and wealthiest harness racing event in the country after Cruz Bromac (2019). Thefixer (2018) and Lazarus, which were consecutive in 2017 and 2016.
