Terror To Love is going to be given his chance at becoming the greatest pacer in Addington history after his jaw-dropping win in yesterday's New Zealand Trotting Cup.
The equine Adonis did what should have been impossible by recovering from a shock early gallop that cost him 30m and valuable field position to win his third New Zealand Cup yesterday.
He becomes only the third horse in 110 years to achieve the threepeat but his treble is the most amazing as he paced the second fastest time ever in the great race, his 3:57 for the 3200m just 0.6 of a second outside Changeover's national record.
Considering what he lost at the start and the fact he had to cover extra ground going around the field three wide, his was the greatest staying performance on the clock in New Zealand harness racing history.
But once owner Terry McDonald had recovered from a race "that gave me a few heart problems" he declared his champion deserves his shot at owning a Cup record that will never been beaten.
"If he had been beaten today then he was going to stud next year," said McDonald.
"But now we have to give him a shot at winning his fourth Cup don't we?
"So all things going well, we will be back here next season."
Terror To Love wasn't the only superstar finding his unique place in history yesterday, with driver Ricky May recording his seventh win in the race, one more than the great Cecil Devine.
It was a win May never gave up on even when all looked lost as Terror To Love was second last and the two other favourites Fly Like An Eagle and Christen Me led and trailed 35m in front of him.
"I still thought I could win," said May.
"I knew it would be tough and to be honest I was in shock because he never gallops.
"But if any horse could win from there it was him."
May didn't panic, moved three wide at the 1800m mark and was gifted the lead by Mark Purdon on Fly Like An Eagle at the bell.
"My horse was getting keen and I needed to hand up. And we had our chance after, the other horse was just too good," said Purdon.
There were no excuses from Dexter Dunn either behind Christen Me, who trailed, got clear at the top of the straight and seemed to hit a wall at the 100m mark, battling into third.
"He was good and didn't pull too hard so we had our chance. I am just not sure then 3200m suited him," said Dunn.
While next year's Cup looms large in the plans for Terror To Love, more immediate is proving a point to his Australian doubters.
While he has accrued $1.9 million in stakes in his 24 wins from 54 starts, he has never won in Australia, where a major victory will greatly increase his stallion value.
So trainers Graham and Paul Court will allow him to bypass Friday's NZ Free-For-All to aim at the A$750,000 Miracle Mile in Sydney on November 30.
Then he has $2 million worth of options over the summer, the Victoria Cup, Hunter Cup and Interdominion before another shot at the Auckland Cup, which he has run second in twice.
But none of them will mean as much to his connections as a third New Zealand Cup. Or the possibility of a fourth.
