Shane Tritton thinks this Chariots Of Fire will linger in his mind as the one that got away.

In racing you have to turn the page quickly, but Tritton is adamant his third and fourth placings (Salty Robyn and Anything For Love) in last Saturday night’s Chariots Of Fire could have been so much better.

He thinks Salty Robyn could have beaten the Kiwi champ Lazarus.

Tritton felt leading and holding the front on Anything For Love was the best way to drive the emerging pacer to either win or run a placing.

And he very publicly said as much via twitter and the media before the race.

So he watched in surprise and frustration as driver Andy McCarthy found the lead easily on Anything For Love then couldn’t restrain quickly enough to surrender the front to Lazarus.

“I asked Andy what happened to the plan and he said the horse settled quite well and that he felt Mark Purdon was about to really pressure him on Lazarus so he took the trail as he thought it was his best chance of being in the finish,” Tritton said.

“I disagreed and it’s just not the way we drive our horses. We go there to win rather than looking for easier runs to get minor placings.

“It was a frustrating night. If Anything For Love held the lead after a fairy comfy 26.8sec first quarter, I think he would run a heck of a race and at least finished top three.

“And it also would’ve made Lazarus work a lot harder than he did with Salty Robyn camped right on him.”

In contrast, Salty Robyn was forced to sit parked in the 1min49sec mile and ran a mighty third, just 4.6m from the winner. Anything For Love was another 2.4m away in third spot.

To make matters worse, NSWHRC officials told Tritton that Salty Robyn was “in the mix for a Miracle Mile invite,” but certainly guaranteed.

So Tritton will now back him up in one of the qualifying sprints at Menangle this Saturday night.

“I will enter Anything For Love as well, but they not give him a run because he’s only a C2. I hope gets in,” he said.

“With Salty Robyn, I think another race and possibly three runs in three weeks will actually be good for him if he does enough next week to make the Miracle Mile field.

“As good as he went the other night, I know he can do better. I thought I had him spot on, but I think he was just a little short of that.”