Mr Feelgood wins Inter Dominion

March 28, 2009

Mr Feelgood, the winner of the 2006 Little Brown Jug, completed what must surely be harness racing's most extraordinary treble Saturday night in Brisbane, Australia, when he won the $A1 million Inter Dominion..Six weeks ago he grabbed the richest harness racing handicap, the Hunter Cup, in Melbourne, Australia.

Mr Feelgood sprinted past three-time Inter Dom winner Blacks A Fake and then held off that tenacious foe to win by a neck in a mile rate of 1:56 6/10ths for the 2,609 meter distance.

Mr Feelgood has been a revelation Down Under. The $A1 million owners Kevin Seymour and Peter O'Shea spent to buy and ship Mr Feelgood from the US to Australia now seems a huge bargain. In just seven Down Under starts, Mr Feelgood has notched three wins, two placings and earned $A829,825.

Don't forget he is also a stallion with thumping breeding value.

Seymour said he was tempted to retire Mr Feelgood to stud straight after the race.

"But then Peter (O'Shea) talked some sense into me," he said. "He convinced me to give the horse another season of racing."

That news thrilled trainer Tim Butt and his brother, Anthony, who produced a breathtakingly good drive to win the final.

"What the horse has done over the past three months is simply amazing," Tim Butt said.

"But, we have said all along he will be that much better when he's had a long spell and comes back to racing in the spring (October).

"It's been a real rush, a race against time, to get him ready for these races," Butt added. "That's a measure of the horse. He's got an amazing attitude and that's why he's been able to cope with the challenge we set him. He's got a fantastic will to win and he just loves to follow the pace in his races."

Mr Feelgood started from the back line and the crunch stage of the race came when Anthony Butt was able to grab a three-wide trail into the action behind the tough Karloo Mick (Panorama-Miss Jogalong).

At that stage the amazing Blacks A Fake (Fake Left-Colada Hanover) was leading and the hot favorite Auckland Reactor (Mach Three-Atomic Lass) - largely owned by North Americans - was overracing badly outside of the leader.

Auckland Reactor, the $2.30 favourite (for a $1 bet), was kicking his sulky shaft and pulled so hard he eventually choked-down and finished poorly.

Blacks A Fake, chasing an unprecedented fourth successive Inter Dominion win, looked the winner on the last bend but then came a challenge from Karloo Mick.

Mr Feelgood was stalking them in third spot when Anthony Butt elected to switch back to inside and use the passing lane to issue his challenge.--By Adam Hamilton

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