Noel Garlick fondly remembers the buzz of anticipation at the Albury Showgrounds before the 1991 Albury Pacers Cup.
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The Albury feature had attracted one of the best pacers of his era in Miracle Mile winner Franco Tiger.
Adding further star power, champion reinsman Gavin Lang committed to making the trip to Albury to partner the Glenn Tippet-trained pacer.
Garlick who was the mobile starter for the club recalls 100s of cars lined down Mate Street waiting to enter the paceway.
"I'm not sure how many attended but it was more than 10,000," Garlick said.
"I think the race club was envious of us at the time because we were attracting way bigger crowds to our cup during that era."
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Although Franco Tiger was a warm favourite for the feature race, the David Eurell driven No Identity was flying at the time and was expected to provide stiff opposition.
As starter, Garlick controlled the speed of the mobile with a hand control from his position on the back of the ute.
The drivers job was to merely steer the vehicle.
"The 2550m start is in the front straight and there were people jammed all along the straight and in the grandstand," he said.
"The atmosphere was unbelievable.
"Anyhow, I knew Franco Tiger was one of the quickest pacers off the mobile that the sport had ever seen.
"Franco Tiger had drawn in gate six and by the time we had got to the winning post he was still on the gate, so I couldn't close them.
"He was that quick.
"I had control of the throttle and couldn't go any faster to get ahead of Franco Tiger to close the gates.
"I remember Gavin looking at me thinking to himself 'what's this bloke doing?'
"Gavin crossed to the fence and it was only then we could shut the gates.
"It was a hairy moment for me but the 'Iceman' didn't blink an eyelid."
Franco Tiger went on to win the cup by five metres over No Identity.
Garlick rates Franco Tiger and the Andrew Peace-driven Level Advice as the most talented pacers to ever win an Albury Cup.
The Albury Harness Racing club is set to stage its Carnival of Cups meeting on Friday night.
The club has compiled a field of who they regard as the best pacers to have taken out the Albury feature since 1989.
Local bookmaker Kevin Walsh has priced the field and as expected there is little separating Franco Tiger and Level Advice for favouritism.
The club is asking harness racing fans to pick their cup trifecta on social media.
Recently retired racecaller Allan Hull who called dozens of Albury Pacers Cups, is set to call the phantom race which will be also posted on social media.