Track record run secures $60,000 Murray Cup
A track-record breaking performance is what it took to win last Friday’s $60,000 Murray Cup at the Albury Carnival of Cups.
The successor, Victorian pacer Captain Hammerhead who rated 1:57.1 to secure the 2570m feature in front of a crowd of near 8000 racegoers. The previous record for this distance was 2:00.0.
After drawing barrier 10 on the second row, trainer-driver David Moran had one plan in mind and it paid off, causing an upset when defeating odds-on elect Swayzee by a neck.
“It’s always tough when you come up against these champions (Swayzee),” said Moran.
“We naturally had to stay in front of him (Swayzee) . . . we were lucky enough to get in front of him.
“He’s a great horse and ran a tremendous race and it’s pretty tough doing what we did tonight.
“If we were ever going to hold the front tonight was the night . . . we just had to keep running.”
Raced by Domenic Martello, Captain Hammerhead pushed his record to 12 wins in 33 starts.
“He’s super excited tonight, Dom and his wife put a lot of money into the game,” said Moran.
Connections of the five-year-old will now aim at securing a berth the $1million Garrards Miracle Mile at Menangle on March 8.
As for the Carnival of Cups, the final leg of series will be at Penrith on Saturday March 15 where the $60,000 Renshaw Cup is the main feature.
WATCH THE FULL DAVID MORAN INTERVIEW HERE