Marshall’s speed machine aces another track record

SMOKEN by name and smokin’ by nature.

That sums up the rich vein of form Mount Wallace pacer Smoken Ace has found himself in over the past two months

The Kyle Marshall-trained five-year-old continued his recent purple patch on Kilmore Pacing Cup night last Saturday, breaking the 1690m track record with a scintillating victory in the $30,000 Popular Alm Sprint Listed Classic.

Run on a track his star driver James Herbertson labelled as ‘not quick’, Smoken Ace saluted in a new benchmark mile rate of 1:52.6, eclipsing the previous mark of 1:53.2 set by Beach Villa in 2022.

It was the second time in six starts the son of Sportswriter has broken a track record.

He claimed the Geelong 1690m track record with an emphatic victory on 12 December last year.

That win kickstarted a run of six top two finishes in a row that now includes three straight Cup night victories at Shepparton, Ballarat and Kilmore.

“We’ll definitely take that … he’s flying,” said former New Zealand horseman Marshall, who has been based with his partner Sophie Jefferies at Mount Wallace since January last year after initially establishing himself at Cranbourne.

“We put Herbie on and he’s found another length or two.

“He won a few early as a young horse, but now it’s just about seasoning him against these horses that have been around a few times.

“He’s in the right frame of mind, so it’s just a matter of keeping him happy.”

Smoken Ace, who started his career in a blaze of glory with five consecutive wins as a two-year-old, is in line to repeat the feat.

He will be chasing four on the trot at his next start.

Herbertson, who has been in the sulky for each of Smoken Ace’s last six starts, including seconds at Melton and Cranbourne, gave the win a ringing endorsement.

“A track record on the track the way it is tonight (last Saturday) … it’s pretty good,” he said.

“The track is not quick tonight at all, as we have seen time-wise all night.

“To go a second quicker than the (previous) track record … if the track was sharp and fast, we probably would have gone 1:50, that’s how much the surface is slowing them down.

 

“There’s a lot of merit to it.”

Smoken Ace’s 12th career win from 37 starts was a testament to his resilience and growing maturity.

“He’s a very lackadaisical horse; I woke him up a bit tonight,” Herbertson said.

“At the top of the straight when we kicked clear, we kicked a bit early and he started having a look around and checking out the scenery.

“To his credit, when they do come at him, he kicks into gear and fights them off.

“He’s more a free-rolling horse. If you can keep him switched on and rolling along, that’s more the way he needs to be driven.

“By the same token, Kyle has done a great job training him to be able to sustain the speed he sustains.

“We saw it in Geelong and we saw it again (at Kilmore).”

The win completed a treble for Herbertson and formed part of a double for Marshall, who took out the following race in somewhat of an upset with Ata Rangi ($11).

The five-year-old gelding, driven by Jordan Leedham, notched up his seventh and biggest win from 31 starts in the Vin Knight Memorial Pace Final, giving Marshall wins in the two features named after the legendary former harness racing trainer and driver and his champion pacer, both icons of Australian harness racing.