It wasn’t quite the half dozen that most predicted, but Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen still walked away from Ashburton on Saturday with smiles on their faces and a little more bling in their keeping.

 

New Zealand’s most powerful racing outfit took home four of the major prizes on Saturday in front of the big crowd at the Harness Jewels courtesy of wins from Piccadilly Princess, Ashley Locaz, Heaven Rocks and Spanish Armada.

Three of those wins were well predicted, but it was the performance of Ashley Locaz who bettered the New Zealand record for a two-year-old in when he paced 1:51.9 to win at massive odds for Tim Williams.

The Bettor’s Delight gelding, owned by the Van Beek family, emerged from three back the fence to run past his more favoured stablemates and grab success in the $150,000 event.

“He was travelling so well off the back straight, we just needed that bit of clear air,” Williams said.

“When it came he really charged into it and found the line strongly.”

The win gave Williams his fourth Jewels success in the past three years after previous wins on Dream About Me, Have Faith In Me and Piccadilly Princess.

While Ashley Locaz was a surprise to most, the All Stars other three winners were all predicted.

Spanish Armada continued her grand season by finding the front and proving too superior for her rivals, winning in 1:52.1 with Rasmussen in the sulky.

“She’s on top of her game at the moment, really flying,” Rasmussen said.

“Once we got to the front, she relaxed back to me beautifully and was just too strong.”

Purdon wasn’t left out of the action with his confident drive on Piccadilly Princess getting her the chocolates in the Four-Year-Old Diamond to make her a back-to-back Jewels winner.

After being crossed by Queen Bee Bardon early, Purdon angled off the fence and went around to the lead, leaving nothing to chance.

And while all three wins were fantastic, they all paled in comparison to that of Heaven Rocks who turned in a stunning effort to win the Four-Year-Old Emerald.

The monster pacer produced his most well-behaved effort of the season when he smashed his rivals in the equal fastest time of the day of 1:58.1 - leaving Rasmussen to compare him to one of the best to ever grace a racetrack in Australasia.

“He’s just so fast, it’s ridiculous speed,” she said.

“The only other horse I have driven with the speed he possesses was Black’s A Fake.

“He could be anything this horse, it’s pretty incredible. And he’s getting better and better with his manners too.”

Heaven Rocks also became a dual Jewels champion with his victory for owners Glenys and Phil Kennard, Phil and Margaret Creighton, Kevin Riseley’s and Ashburton’s Gavin Douglas.

Matt Markham