Rivals War Machine and Special Gold lit up the track during the last round of harness racing at the National Equestrian Centre.

Mello Family’s gelding War Machine clocked the season’s fastest time of 1:02/2, with Lee and Sergio Raynor’s stallion Special Gold recording the second-fastest of 1:02/4 in the Free For All division at the Devonshire facility last Saturday.

Champion of Champions War Machine and driver Darico Clarke lowered the season’s fastest time on the way to victory in the first race in the Free for All division.

“The track conditions were nice to us so that’s what really played a part,” Clarke told The Royal Gazette. “Everybody improved last weekend and that was just based off the track being nice.

“Whenever it’s a good track we expect good times and all of that is going to play a part in our goal for the season, so we will see what happens.

“He has a lot left in him so that was just a glimpse of what’s to come because it’s a lot of horse left. That’s what I got from that race.

“It was just getting him out, make sure he got out solid and then after that it was basically control.

“He basically does all the work himself. I am just here for the drive the majority of the times.”

Special Gold came to within two fifths of a second of equalling the season’s fastest time en route to winning the remaining race in the division under star driver Kiwon Waldron.

“He is not quite where I want him to be,” Raynor said.

“But he was asking to go a little bit and was able to give us that 1:02/4.

“Sergio and I were happy about it but we still got a way to go because he is not as race as I want him. “It’s going to take a little while and we just have to stick to the wicket. It was a good night’s racing and we were pleased.”

The overall track record of 1:01/1 is held by Tyler Lopes’s retired mare Google Me.

The next meeting takes place at the National Equestrian Centre on Friday night