A special beach party was being planned for Boat Harbour-trained pacer Magical Mike after his brilliant win in the prestigious $18,000 Mark Colin Packaging 40th Inter City Pace Final (2400m) at the Maitland Paceway on Saturday night.
Magical Mike (6-4), after a tough run, held off a strong challenge from the heavily backed Victorian favourite Barcode to score a 2m win with the outsider of the 10-horse field. Our Benefit (50-1) finished 6m back in third place.
The win provided young Sydney computer and business consultant Alex Micallef with his biggest win an an owner.
As a reward, Micallef gave well-known trainer-driver Les Kosklin a half-share in the promising New Zealand-bred gelding after the race.
" I have only raced a couple of horses and I thought before the race if Les could win such a race I would give him a half share in the horse," an excited Micallef said after the win.
It was Magical Mike's fourth straight win and his value has now escalated to something like $100,000.