Unlucky Reactor back for more
Betting tips 
/ The Early Crow / 25 November 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market
The mongrel gets off the fence in the home straight and flashes home – another certainty beaten.
New Zealand's pin-up pacer is out to avenge a horror run of luck in Australia when he contests Sunday's Miracle Mile at Menangle in NSW.
Betting on harness racing can be a tricky game. You put your money down, take a deep breath and leave everything in the hands of the driver. You back a horse with good form only to see it parked three back on the inside shortly after the start and you're left wondering what might have been.
The mongrel gets off the fence in the home straight and flashes home - another certainty beaten.
Auckland Reactor is one of those unlucky horses. He's got all the ability in the world, and an enviable race record, but he manages to attract bad luck on an all-too-regular basis.
His most recent run at Addington in New Zealand saw him head out on to the track as the unbackable favourite. But you didn't want to be on him 400 metres from home, when he began wilting after a torrid run in the New Zealand Free-for-all.
The horse had to sustain a speedy run almost from the outset as Awesome Armbro sat outside him pouring on the pressure. The latter finished a very long last, but Auckland reactor held on gallantly to finish a brave fifth of the six runners, beaten a moderate margin in the circumstances.
The New Zealand pin-up horse will arrive in Australia later this week to contest Sunday's Miracle Mile at Menangle. It's his first visit to Australia since his Inter Dominion campaign earlier this year - a campaign which can reasonably be described as an unmitigated disaster.
The horse burnt an enormous amount of energy circling the entire field to take the front in the Inter Dominion final, and the trainer later revealed there was a major problem with the driving gear. Suffice to say, he ran a shocker as the short-priced favourite.
Let's hope the connections get the basics right this time and that we can finally see the real Auckland Reactor scorch the sand on Sunday. If we do see the real thing, the 4.10 or better on offer will look incredibly generous.
