This G2 mile was once the most fabled mile and held at G1 in a New Zealand racing for decades and if you were great then you ran in this race period. Times have changed and raceclub decisions to try and rewrite history sadly have this race, the Easter Handicap, now entrenched as a mediocre G2 mile and now often held on wet ground. It is not even held on Easter Weekend anymore so the drop to G2 means it can only get lower rather than regain any mantle of meaningfulness ever again. Today the field drawn was suspect and shown by the winner of this last year was up 4kg and the rising 7yo a clear topweight ran second favourite too, so nothing had come though in the interim. The best mudder won today in Megablast and he was fresh up too, his most lethal racing state, with the gelding starting favourite albeit a loose one at over $7. The rising 7yo got back eleventh on settling and then was jogging near the home turn but got held up and had to wait for a split before swimming through quickly. He free-styled into second at the 300m and led soon after and was clear at the 100m before winning by less than a length but with plenty in the tank to clock 1:42.32. The time makes the weakish Listed juvenile mile race run and won in 1:42.70 earlier in the day as seeming extraordinary but the Pukekohe track was bad in R3 and here in R7 was a dreadful further rained on and bottomless bog, so the time comparison does not count this time. Megablast was winning his ninth race in twenty-eight starts and eight of those wins have come on slow or heavy ground. Brighton, his stablemate, settled down last then swept up fast deepest across the top and came up third turning for home. He sustained that run and reached second at the 150m plus was strong through the line too. It was his first blacktype earned as an older horse after many attempts with the rising 6yo having a G2 second as a 3yo and a Listed win and placing as a juvenile. Brighton is a shy winner with just four successes to date from thirty starts. Romancer, also just a four-win galloper, was a Listed winner as a 3yo but the now 4yo was G3 placed at 1200m in January and now has a G2 third at the mile. He raced seventh or eighth mostly and swam through at the 400m to lead briefly before the winner gave him the Phelps pool passing treatment. The 4yo ended up beaten over four and a half lengths and is not really a deadest mudlark but he can clearly cope. His sire Redwood does leave swimmers though. Admiral set the pace and was swum past at the 300m and ended up fifth beaten just under six lengths. Platinum Command ran on okay from the rear trio and copped the footing. Brilliant Shine raced seventh wide and moved up fifth deep across the top then strode into second turning for home before the footing anchored him to finish sixth beaten almost seven and a half lengths. Our King Sway ran on from last down the outer and is a noted mudder. The rest got beaten almost a dozen lengths and as much as thirty lengths at the line. Apart from the winner and last year's winner Seventh Up, which ran twelfth today beaten almost twenty-one lengths), there was only two other runners in single figures. Sultan Of Swing floundered the run home and finished ninth beaten almost sixteen lengths and Tiptronic stopped badly to finish fifteenth beaten almost thirty lengths. The race was a dubious field and the result has a big asterisk as it is purely wet track and mudder only relevant. Megablast could beat these on rain-affected footing at a mile and even up to 3200m. The only certainty is the Easter Handicap ain't what it used to be anymore.