Unfinished business for Kyle Austin

By Michael Guerin

Kyle Austin is heading back to The Coast to try and win the Westport Cup his best ever pacer couldn’t.

Austin trained Live On Legend to win the feature pace, the Betavet Mobile Pace, at Addington on Friday night, the four-year-old leading throughout in the hands of Blair Orange to beat a brave Fernetti.

“Blair’s drive was a big help, he drove him perfectly,” says Austin of the 26.4 second last 400m quarter that secured him the win.

It was Live On Legend’s fourth win and a good training performance from Austin as he hadn’t raced since mid-September.

Now the Canterbury trainer, who only works three before his day job as a sign writer, says Living On Legend will head to Westport on Boxing Day.

“I have had a couple of goes at winning it and finished second with Buster Brady,” he remembers when his future open class horse went down by a nose to Bronze Over in 2016.

Buster Brady went on to win the second day and Austin says Live On Legend will get his shot at both days but then skip Reefton and chase another Cup at Nelson.

As good as Live On Legend was his effort was challenged for performance of the night by Eurostyle in the main trot.

The Derek and Adele Jones-trained Eurostyle sat parked for much of the 1980m to record her fourth career win in the hands of Kimberly Butt and she has the scope and speed to make an open class mare with another year of strengthening.