The Miracle Mile History

[Messenger]

This thread will be about the history of the MM in a long build up to the next MM

[eliteblood]

Hi Kevin,

Here is a link to a you tube replay

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUyn6TheYhA

[aussiebreno]

Id say because its all in the introduction so no point rehashing it all. Theres probably actually more in the introduction about Robin Dundees than most others.

[Amlin]

Not very clear but here is how the Canberra Times reported the big race the next morning.

[Messenger]

Having now read the Introduction of Harnessing a Miracle by Bob Cain I now know all about the first MM and thought I might share a few facts in point form. Who knows maybe I will keep it going for all the MM's. (Thanks again to Brendan for pointing to the Introduction - see other thread for explanation). I know many of you know all of this and much more (please add) but we have more recent followers who may find it interesting

- The '67 MM was the first sponsored harness race in Australia
- It was the brainchild of CEO Len Smith (now honoured with the Len Smith Mile)
- It was held in March, a time slot to which it is to return
- Robin Dundee collected $12,500 including $1,000 for breaking HP Tk Rec and $4k for < 2.00
- The HP Tk Rec for a race had been held by Mineral Spring since 1956 at 2.01.2
- The use of additional incentive prizes was to change the pattern of racing
- Blue lights every ¼ mile that flashed after 30 secs created interest
- The crowd of 20,287 was the biggest for the season
- Total holdings for the night were not far short of a million
- The splits were 28.5, 29.5, 30, 30 after a war up front resulting in a MR of 1.59
- Robin Dundee 4/5 fav sat 5th before bursting clear to win by 25yds
- Robert Cameron her driver carried a stopwatch
- Robin Dundee was a 9yo mare (not 8 as stated in H.A.M)
- The race caught America's attention and all the field bar Angelique eventually went to US
- Robin Dundee also won a NZ Oaks, a NZ FFA, an Interdom Final, and an Auckland Cup.
- Robin Dundee is the dam of star and sire Genghis Khan and her dam line is still strong to this day
- Cherry Blossom, Robin Dundee's dam is also the 4th dam of super mare Blossom Lady
- Hal Tryax, Robin Dundee's sire has full sisters Roya and Queenly McKinney crossed 3x3

Gathered principally from Harnessing a Miracle by Bob Cain

[Danno]

Having now read the Introduction of Harnessing a Miracle by Bob Cain I now know all about the first MM and thought I might share a few facts in point form. Who knows maybe I will keep it going for all the MM's. (Thanks again to Brendan for pointing to the Introduction - see other thread for explanation). I know many of you know all of this and much more (please add) but we have more recent followers who may find it interesting

- The '67 MM was the first sponsored harness race in Australia
- It was the brainchild of CEO Len Smith (now honoured with the Len Smith Mile)
- It was held in March, a time slot to which it is to return
- Robin Dundee collected $12,500 including $1,000 for breaking HP Tk Rec and $4k for < 2.00
- The HP Tk Rec for a race had been held by Mineral Spring since 1956 at 2.01.2
- The use of additional incentive prizes was to change the pattern of racing
- Blue lights every ¼ mile that flashed after 30 secs created interest
- The crowd of 20,287 was the biggest for the season
- Total holdings for the night were not far short of a million
- The splits were 28.5, 29.5, 30, 30 after a war up front resulting in a MR of 1.59
- Robin Dundee 4/5 fav sat 5th before bursting clear to win by 25yds
- Robert Cameron her driver carried a stopwatch
- Robin Dundee was a 9yo mare (not 8 as stated in H.A.M)
- The race caught America's attention and all the field bar Angelique eventually went to US
- Robin Dundee also won a NZ Oaks, a NZ FFA, an Interdom Final, and an Auckland Cup.
- Robin Dundee is the dam of star and sire Genghis Khan and her dam line is still strong to this day
- Cherry Blossom, Robin Dundee's dam is also the 4th dam of super mare Blossom Lady
- Hal Tryax, Robin Dundee's sire has full sisters Roya and Queenly McKinney crossed 3x3

Gathered principally from Harnessing a Miracle by Bob Cain

Kev,
I have 2 copies of the book do you want one? sorry but I only have one copy of "another ten miracles" so you can't have that one.

[Messenger]

It is possible to find dozens of Inter final replays at the following site just by clicking on a decade
http://www.harness.org.au/inter/stars.htm

HRV also has replays of their major races from the last decade
http://www.hrv.org.au/hrv/index.cfm/...r-rolls/races/

Does anyone know if there is such a thing for MMs anywhere?
I cannot find it on the NSW site

[Amlin]

A YouTube user named Magictoliver has posted hundreds of videos in YouTube, many to do with Harold Park and they include a lot of Miracle Mile replays


https://www.youtube.com/user/Magictoliver/videos


Or you can get 'em all here on the Menangle site - through the old Harold Park site


http://www.haroldpark.com.au/mmile_replays.html

[Messenger]

Kyle you are FANTASTIC - Thank you Thank you

This is where to find a replay of every MM folks

http://www.haroldpark.com.au/mmile_replays.html

Just click on the year

[Messenger]

The fantastic link that Kyle provided has a menu box top right with the last alternative being Results which tells you everything you could want to know
so I won't be boring you with any more history here. If you want to go directly to the results write up it is

http://www.haroldpark.com.au/mmile_results.html