HARNESS RACING
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It seems only a catastrophe could stop duel Inter Dominion grand final winner Beautide from adding another group 1 to his name in this Sunday's Len Smith Mile (1609m) at Menangle.
The James Rattray driven and trained superstar is listed as an overwhelming $1.25 fixed odds favourite with TAB Sportsbet to triumph in his third straight feature race after following his second Inter Dominion success with a win in the group 3 Paul Fitzpatrick at Menangle earlier this month.
Beautide claimed the same group 1 12-months ago and looks likely to add to his stunning record of 45 wins from 73 career starts.
Smolda, trained by Mark Purdon, is the only other trotter in single figures at $8.50.
Group 1 Victoria Cup (2240m) placegetter Lennytheshark ($10) is next in the market after making a winning return last weekend.
Trainer David Aitken admitted his contender had a tough task ahead.
"It is going to be hard to topple Beautide on what he did at Menangle last start but I'm really happy with Lennytheshark and he's ready to go," Aiken said. "Chris [Alford] was happy on Saturday night, Lenny never travels on the bit but Chris didn't have to pull the pull downs in the run to the line so we couldn't have asked much more of the horse, he got the job done."
Sunday will also feature the group 1 Australian Pacing Gold Final (1609m). The race has another highly fancied favourite with Our Waikiki Beach, also trained by Purdon, listed at $1.20 in Fixed Odds markets.