DeCosta rides the upset special

Nick DeCosta recorded the biggest upset during New Year’s day harness stakes racing at Vesey Street.

The veteran driver upstaged pre-race favourite Colin Mello and Big Red Machine to win the Aged Stakes final at the helm of Brona’s Mike.

DeCosta posted a first and a second in the two-race series to claim top honours on average time.

He said: “Going into the race my horse was the horse with the slowest time and so he was a bit of the underdog.

“But one thing about Brona’s Mike is that he is consistent — he runs the same week in and week out.”

DeCosta also attributes his win to the luck of the draw.

He added: “The draw was to my advantage because I drew the middle, which ideally would help me to get the best average time under those circumstances.

“I got the number two position and so for average time that would’ve been the best position for me to get the best average time that I can get.

“Being number two I was right in the middle of two good horses.”

Mistake

DeCosta clinched the title with victory in the second heat at the expense of Mello’s misfortunes at the start.

He said: “I think the mistake that the horse (Big Red Machine) made is a mistake that any horse can make.

“He galloped out of the gate and under those circumstances that could happen to anybody he was just unlucky because other than that Big Red Machine ran very well.”

Mello, who equalled his own track record (1:02/3) the previous week, took defeat all in stride.

He said: “It wasn’t the best of days and you can’t win them all.

“Every day is a racing day, but not every day is a winning day.

Congratulations to all those who won the stakes races because they put in a lot of work as well.”

If it was any consolation, Mello finished runner up in the four-year-old and three-year-old stakes finals with Black and Mild and Knight Dreamer.

Jason Lopes on Captain Progress won top honours in the four-year-old stakes final,

EJ Correia aboard Kernel’s Maestro won the three-year-old title, while Joseph Vieira and Stay Tuned captured glory in the two-year-old stakes final.

Dominating the day’s regular race schedule was Johnny Paynter, who picked up a remarkable four wins.

He won three heats on Leo Simmons’ Ribbons & Pearls and George Tee competing in the 1:07/2-1:08/2 and 1:05- 1:06 time bars.

Paynter’s own horse, Sure Grand, also ran a personal best (1:06/1) en route to capturing heat honours in the junior free for all.

He said: “She ran slow in the first heat but in the second heat I picked up my game a bit to help bring her confidence up.”

Andrea Westerfield (Brona’s Blaze), Arthur Hurst (Just Call Me Willie) and Rickai Raynor (Crazy Bald Head) were all double heat winners.

The 2010/11 harness season now heads for a climax with the final four race days that will determine the eventual 12 drivers who will compete in next month’s champion of champions.