The Cootamundra Harness Racing Club held a very successful Carnival of Cups meeting at the Showground Paceway on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In perfect autumn weather, an appreciative crowd witnessed a high standard of pacing action, with the track in tip-top condition for the eight-event card.
Feature race of the day was the South West Fuel Wattle Time Cup with victory going to the favourite Strathlachlan Andy (James Harding).
Starting from outside the second line the gelding was moved around the field mid-race to sit outside the leader and dashed away on the final turn and outsprinted its rivals to win by three metres.
Strathlachlan Andy rated a smart 1.59.4 to defeat Junee pacer Sokys Bigbullet (Bruce Harpley) and Itcan Happen (David Moran).
Central Coast trainer Geoff Harding was thrilled with the win. The stable had been targeting this race for some time and with excellent form in both Sydney and Newcastle prior to the race, Strathlachlan Andy was the punters popular pick and proved too strong for his rivals in the $15,000 feature race.
Local Harness Racing Club secretary Stephen Hunt got a great thrill when his recently acquired purchase Rocky Floyd won the first heat of the Tabcorp Park Menangle Country Series Heat.
Hunt purchased the runner with the specific aim of winning a race on his home track and with talented young Bathurst trainer/driver Mat Rue driving a heady race, Rocky Floyd won in impressive style.
Local punters followed Hunt’s lead in the betting ring and backed Rocky Floyd into $3.00 favourite.
By winning this event, the gelding has now qualified for the $25,000 Country Series Heat final at Menangle Park next Saturday night.
Other winners on the day were Crookwell pacer Roarn (Daniel Rowell) in the GrainCorp Foundation Two Year Old Pace, Devil Dust (Scott Osmond) in the Scott Boxsell Transport and Boxsell’s Transport Pace, Smokenola (Corey Bell) in the Carlos Supa IGA Supermarket Final and Stening (Bruce Harpley) proved too strong for his rivals in the poggaharness.com three year old event.
Tireless work by president Keith Boxsell, Stephen Hunt, treasurer Tony Ward, a small band of volunteers and loyal local business sponsorship ensured the meeting was a great showcase for the sport.
