That was his fastest ever mile and the time was 5.7 seconds under the required qualifying mark.

"Everyone is talking about him up here. He impressed so much he has turned a few heads alright," said co-owner and trainer Isaac Waxman.

Now named Awesome Armbro N, the 8-year-old son of Armbro Operative and Abbeybell (New York Motoring) will make is Canadian debut this Saturday (June 12)- (5.15am, Sunday June 13 - NZ Time) in a $26,000 Mile on the same track he qualified on. He has drawn one of 10 and Waxman believes he will take all sorts of beating.

"He qualified large. In fact Luc said he won ridiculously easy under a hold. Casie Coleman had a very good open free-for-aller in the race named All American Swift, who had the two hole - and he dealt to her.

"He's a very natural athlete. He looks great. In fact everything about him is good. And the great thing is that with time he can only get better," the Dundas (Ontario) trainer said.

Luc is Luc Ouellette, one of Canada's best reinsman, who has driven 8,237 winners since 1984, including 63 in 2010.

"The thing Luc and I like about him is that he's not stupid on the track. He gets right down to business. I can't believe how well he's adjusted. We shaved him completely when he got here and he hasn't been sick once. He's eating up everything and seems to be thriving. He's one sharp and serious racehorse," Waxman told Harnesslink today (Thursday) from Ontario.

Awesome Armbro N drew seven of seven in his qualifier six days ago. He won ridiculously easy pacing the mile in 1:53.3. His prior sectionals were 28, 59, and 1:27.1.

"The thing Luc liked about him was that he never really asked him to go for it in the final quarter yet he still managed to go 26.2. He was under no pressure whatsoever. I want more Kiwi horses. Holmes Hanover's if you know of any," Waxman said.

The 23-year-old might be youthful but he is no stranger to training Kiwi horses. Other Kiwis he has conditioned include Scapa and Lyn Of Tawa. However the best horse he has so far trained has been Mach It Paid, who has won 20 races (one this season) and $193,220.

But Awesome Armbro N is definitely the flavour of the month.

"Some horses go through the motions but you can tell this fella really wants to race. We trained him two days before he qualified on the farm track and when he went a final 27 quarter without really trying. That's when we knew we were on to something good.

"Hopefully he can now kick on and hold his head high in all the bigger races later this season," Waxman said.

Awesome Armbro N spent much of his career racing in the shadow of New Zealand Cup winner and stablemate, Changeover. He started his career at Cambridge Raceway in March 2005.

In New Zealand he won 19 of his 85 starts and placed in 24 others for $648,754. His quickest mile was 1:55.6. As well as last year's Interdominion Consolation Grand Final, he also won the $50,000 Elsu Classic in 2006; the $35,000 Cambridge Classic in 2007; and the $45,000 Summer Cup, also in 2007.

Awesome Armbro, who was driven by Philip Butcher for most of his career, also placed in several major Group One events -including a third behind Auckland Reactor in last year's $600,000 Auckland Cup and a second behind the same horse in the $300,000 New Zealand Free-For-All in 2008.

His most recent win was over New Zealand's rising pacing star - Tintin In America - in this year's $15,000 Manukau Free-For-All at Alexandra Park. He was sold abroad by South Auckland-based JC International Ltd.

Awesome Armbro was bred by the Westminster Breeding Syndicate and was owned by the Auckland Trotting Club's Trot 2005 Syndicate.

Waxman has only been training since 2006 but since then has recorded 162 wins. He has also driven 12 winners this season and 17 all up since first getting in the bike in 2008.

It was the sixth Harness Jewels victory for trainer Geoff Small and driver David Butcher. Tintin In America won easily by increasing 1-1/4 lengths after securing the passing lane run behind Highview Tommy and Blair Orange.

He paced the mobile mile in 1:54.1 - with final 800m and 400m sectionals of 57.1 and 28.2 seconds. Still Coughin (Ken Barron) and Harley Earl (Ricky May) were second and third.

Butcher praised the training prowess of Small.

"Is he a top Group One trainer or what? It might have looked like this fella won easily but he has come to the end of a long season. He won't contest the Breeders Crown. He will get a deserved spell now," Butcher said.

Butcher added he would now be spelled with the New Zealand Cup in November as his next major assignment.

"He won the Breeders Crown last year and more recently ran second behind Monkey King in a fast run Auckland Cup and then won New Zealand Messenger Championship. It's been a big year. If any horse deserves a spell it's this tough fella," Butcher said.

It Was Tintin In America's 16th win in 35 attempts. He's also placed 11 times for $934,305 in career stakes.

In fact De Lovely not only won today, she also set a new New Zealand record of 1:54 beating the previous record set by Joyfuljoy in last year's Harness Jewels Final by 0.4 of a second.

The race was won at the start.

Butcher shot De Lovely straight to the front from their one draw and from that point they dictated all the pace. At the bell they were pressured by Secret Potion and Nicole Molander but De Lovely was always going better than the Mark Purdon and Grant Payne trained runner.

Butcher expected to win.

"She's right on top of her game at the moment. I thought she could lead and win. Geoff has done a brilliant job with her. He's some trainer," Butcher said.

The $1.40 favourite had 1-3/4 lengths to spare over Lancome (Blair Orange) at the finish with 2-1/2 lengths back to Meredith Maguire (Mark Purdon) in third. They sprinted a 27.9 first quarter and towards the end of the race they came home in: last 800m: 56.3 and last 400m: 27.7.

De Lovely is owned by Les Girls 2 Syndicate. She has now won six of her 14 starts and placed in five others for $283, 581.

The daughter of Falcon Seelster emulated the same feat achieved by her dam Copper Beach, when she was successful in the same race six years ago. The powerful Purdon/Payne barn looked to have a stranglehold on the Group One event with last week's winner Secret Potion along with Lancome and Meredith Maguire all with winning chances. But standing in the way was the unluckiest horse in last week's Nevele R Fillies Final.

The drive of David Butcher was a delight to watch as he gently went about upsetting the All Star apple cart. Drawn on the second row behind Lancome, Butcher nursed De Lovely into a handy position on the outer before making a move with 2000m run.

It was about that time the genius in Butcher began to spurt forth. With Nicole Molander pushing forward to get handy, Butcher was able to hang the Nevele R Final winner out three wide just long enough to squeeze some life out of Secret Potion. Molander eventually found the top with the daughter of Courage Under Fire, but the over-exertion provided by Butcher was to have a telling effect at the end of the race.

Molander conceded the lead to her stablemate Lancome posting early leader Meredith Maguire (Mark Purdon) three deep the markers.

Meanwhile De Lovely after receiving cover over the latter part of the race, was chewing steel swinging for home. With all three Purdon/Payne runners gasping for breath Butcher pushed out from a handy spot and pounced on the lead running clear to win as he liked.

The time for the 2600 mobile was a superb 3.10.9. A mile rate of 1.58.1 with the 800 in more sedate 59.3 and final 400 in 28.3. De Lovely was 2 1/2 lengths clear of Lancome who tried hard with stablemate Meredith Maguire going her usual honest race. Favourite Secret Potion was a brave fourth.

Bred and raced by the Les Girls Syndicate, De Lovely has had her share of unlucky runs this season according to Aria Small, wife of trainer Geoff Small.. "It was very frustrating to watch her not get a decent go last week. She's been racing well all season and has been bridesmaid a couple of occasions, so it's been a case of just waiting for her turn to come," she said. De Lovely has now bankrolled $183,000 and is just shy of superseding her mum.

The Christian Cullen gelding simply had too much horsepower when winning the 2200m event. A couple of years ago his part-owners Mike and Linda Ringrose thought he might never race again.

"We thought he might not come back after having a year off with a leg injury. He was a weak 3-year-old so things didn't look good, but he has come back bigger and stronger and has now won nine races for us," Aucklander, (Mike) Ringrose said.

The Te Awamutu Cup winner never raced from July 2008 until June 2009. However since then he has gone from strength to strength winning six times since then.

The Geoff Small conditioned bay was simply too good for his seven opponents tonight. He and driver David Butcher had 2-3/4 lengths to spare at the finishing line. The winning time was 2:41.8 (mile rate: 1:58.3) with final 800m and 400m sectionals of 56.4 and 27.5 seconds.

But nothing could be taken away from Perfect Cullen. With magic man ‘Butcher' again at his very best the race was always his heading for home. He has now won nine of his 41 starts and placed in 11 others for just over $86,000 in stakes.

"We will just race him here every couple of weeks now. One race we would like to win with him is the Reg Clapp Memorial Pace on June 18. I've been coming here (Alexandra Park) for 37 years and to win a race named after the great man would be special," Ringrose said.

The son of McArdle paced the 2700m mobile in a sensational 3:15.8 - an amazing 1.4 seconds quicker than Flashing Red's 2007 record of 3:17.2 set in the Auckland Cup. He won by three quarters of a lengths from Australian Bonavista Bay (Chris Alford) with a neck and a neck back to Harley Earl (Ricky May) and Captain joy (Gavin Lang) who were third and fourth.

"We were certainly flying out there tonight. It was the pace-makers who set up the record and this fella just came over the top of them. It has a powerful sprint," said driver David Butcher.

Has he what! Tintin In America produced the same late burst which saw him down Bonavista Bay in the Breeders Crown in Melton (Victoria) nine months ago. Tonight ‘Tintin' paced a 1:56.4 mile rate with 800m and 400m sprints of 56.9 and 28.4 seconds.

All the early pace was set by Sleepy Tripp and Mark Purdon. Tintin In America was well back until latching on to Captain Joy when he and Bonavista Bay made their moves at the 850m. IN the straight ‘Tintin's' sprint was simply too powerful.

"What a great training feat," said ATC Trot 20008 Syndicate owner, Robert Carr said immediately after the race.

"He went into last week's race without a trial and then he comes out and does this. The horse had no luck when fifth over the 1700m last week. But Geoff knows what he's doing. He had him spot on for tonight. He's a quality trainer alright, one of the best," Carr said.

A multiple Group winner, Tintin In America has now won 13 of his 33 starts and placed in 11 others. His stake earnings are just a tick over $817,000.

Syndicate manager Rob Carr has confirmed an offer has been made and while he would not discuss money, Herald investigations suggest it is about $800,000.

The offer is believed to have been made by a Canterbury agent on behalf of an overseas buyer who would initially look to race the 4yo son of McArdle in New Zealand.

While the offer is large by Australasian harness racing standards it is likely to be turned down as almost half of the syndicate members with shares in Tintin In America also had shares in his former stablemate Changeover.

With Changeover having passed his fertility tests so now confirmed to stand at Nevele R Stud next season after being sold for $2 million, many of those owners are cashed up and looking for an open-class horse to fill the void.

The Herald also understands the other ATC syndicate open-class pacer Awesome Armbro is the centre of a much smaller offer, which is more likely to be accepted as he has a limited future in New Zealand.

He would be likely to head to the United States, where he would be suited by the mile racing.

Tintin In America, though could develop into the best pacer in Australasia, especially with the open-class ranks set to be savaged by retirements.

Changeover and Auckland Reactor are already gone for good while Mr Feelgood will not be far behind.

While Blacks A Fake will race again next season he is unlikely to travel far from his native Queensland except for the Interdominions in Christchurch if he makes it that far.

That leaves Monkey King as clear top dog among the New Zealand pacers with not many true superstars in Australia to threaten his crown.

Tintin In America is much like Monkey King was at the same age, a dazzling speedster lacking the toughness needed for a concentrated Grand Circuit campaign.

But if he can mature into anything like Monkey King he could easily win a major cup next season and have two or three more years in the big time with enormous earning potential.

He did, after all, push Monkey King close in the Auckland Cup last month in only his second open-class race.

And this season he still has the Taylor Mile, Messenger Pace and Harness Jewels as confirmed targets before a possible tilt at the Chariots of Fire.

He would be more likely to bypass the last-mentioned though to have a decent winter spell before being set for the New Zealand Cup, a race he would be second favourite for if a market was set today.

Tintin In America will open a short-priced favourite for his division of the Harness Jewels when the markets come out next Wednesday but he looks certain to meet Australian stars Bonavista Bay and Captain Joy.

The connections of both have confirmed their wonderful pacers will fly into Auckland on April 25 to take in the Taylor-Messenger double, with Captain Joy definitely staying for the Jewels on June 5 should he earn enough money.

That in itself will not be easy though, with the mid-May cut off points for that division of the Jewels likely to be around $50,000 to make the top 12 on the stakes-based rankings.

That could mean the Australian raiders need to win one or place in both of the Alexandra Park group ones to make the Jewels cut-off.

MOST WANTED

• An offer believed to be around $800,000 has been made for Tintin In America.

  His syndicate of owners will meet to vote on it next Thursday. An offer has also been made for the ATC syndicate-owned Awesome Armbro.

• Tintin In America will open favourite for his division of the Harness Jewels when markets come out next week.

Because his trial win yesterday and more importantly faultless manners during it should have been enough to see Our Awesome Armbro get back into the barrier draw for the first round of heats at Harold Park in Sydney in just 10 days time.

Our Awesome Armbro suffered his setback in the Ballarat Cup a week and a half ago when he galloped in the score up.

That not only cost the son of Armbro Invasion any winning chance but saw him listed as ODM, which could have been enough to end his chances of making the final for the great New South Wales series.

So trainer Geoff Small opted to trial last season's Watpac Inter Dominion Consolation winner at Kilmore on Tuesday rather than start him in the support race to the BIG6 Hunter Cup at Moonee Valley last Saturday.

And he is happy he did.

"He paced perfectly and actually led after about 50m," said Small.

"The most important thing for the stewards was that he was up on the gate at the start, and he was, so I think we should have no problems getting back in the draw."

That will suit Our Awesome Armbro, who goes his best races when he is able to sit just off the speed.

"He actually felt really good and paced his last 800m in 56 seonds, so he is where he needs to be," said Small, who drove Our

Awesome Armbro himself. Small's double-pronged attack on Watpac D10 is looking more potent by the day as Changeover won his final lead-up race at Alexandra Park last Friday.

The champion pacer was thrown into the $12,000 Kumeu Cup off just a 30m handicap against greatly inferior horses but still showed good speed to sprint clear after sitting in the one-one.

And most importantly for Small and driver David Butcher, Changeover relaxed before and during the race.

"He felt great warming up before the race," said Butcher.

"And that is just as important as what he did during the race.

"His problem over the summer has been pulling too hard, which has taken the sting out of him at the end of his races.

"But when he is relaxed he can do things like he did tonight, sit in and outsprint them.

"That is very important in a series like the Interdominions where you want as many points as possible but don't want to have too hard a runs.

"The way he felt last Friday I think he is going into the series as good as he has been all season and he still has the speed to beat these horses."

Changeover will train in Auckland on Monday morning before flying to Sydney on Tuesday and having his final workout before the series next Wednesday.

FINAL INTER DOMINION RANKINGS:

1 MR FEELGOOD USA; 2 BLACKS A FAKE; 3 MONKEY KING NZ; 4; WASHAKIE NZ; 5 BONDY NZ; 6 CINCINNATI KID NZ; 7 SMOKEN UP NZ; 8 KARLOO MICK; 9 CHANGEOVER NZ; 10 PEMBROOK BENNY NZ; 11 TANABI BROMAC; 12 BAILEYS DREAM NZ; 13 NOTASWETHORT NZ; 14 LONESTAR LEGEND USA; 15 SAMMY MAGUIRE NZ; 16 BE GOOD JOHNNY; 17 I AM SAM; 18 OUR MALABAR NZ; 19 MAGIC OPERATIVE; 20 KARLSRUHE; 21 WESTERN CAM; 22 CANT BLUFF ME; 23 OUR AWESOME ARMBRO NZ; 24 ATOMIC ARK; 25 PANORAMA SWING; 26 CULLENS LEGACY NZ; 27 OUR BRAHMAN BOY NZ; 28 PACIFIC CHARM; 29 HAVA BONVOYAGE NZ; 30 FOX VALLEY APPEAL USA; 31 SMARTY JONES; 32 GAME SAFIN NZ; 33 TEE PEE VILLAGE NZ; 34 BALTIC ICE; 35 GENUWINE USA; 36 BORIS BADENOV; 37 VIRAGE; 38 PRINCE BENJI; 39 FEW GOOD MEN; 40 THE GUNSTAR; 41 OHOKA UTAH NZ; 42 JUST CALLME CULLEN; 43 IM FULL OF FIRE NZ; 44 ST BARTS NZ; 45 MYSTICAL WARRIOR; 46; SCOTTY MACH NZ; 47 VILLAGE WARRIOR; 48 SO DEEP NZ; 49 FIFTY GORILLAS; 50 LADY OCTAVIA; 51 ERICS LEGEND NZ; 52 EARLIER NOT LATER NZ.