Captain Hammerhead rules supreme at Wagga

Classy pacer Captain Hammerhead (Captaintreacherous) proved his worth when he outstayed his harness racing rivals to take out the Listed $100,000 Boots Civil-Milbrae Quarries Riverina Championship Final for entires and geldings at the Riverina Raceway on Saturday night.

In an action packed event favourite heat winner Nyack showed great speed from the second row to go up and tackle stablemate Bainbridge who wrestled the early lead from the well supported Sweetheart Bart. The other heat winner Captain Hammerhead who was just behind Nyack as favourite settled near the rear of the field.

As the lead chopped and changed Nyack eventually went to the lead ahead of Bainbridge. In the straight for the bell David Moran on Captain Hammerhead made a well timed burst and to the surprise of many he easily cleared Nyack.

However it was obvious something was wrong with Nyack as he started to shorten stride and in doing so took Bainbridge back with him through the field.

CAPTAIN HAMMERHEAD APR 19 REPLAY RIVERINA CHAMPIONSHIPS FINAL 

Sweetheart Bart emerged from the pack, but Captain Hammerhead showing his customary resilience continued to give plenty and at the finish he had five metres to spare from Sweetheart Bart who ran a mighty runner up with I Break The Line coming from well back to take third placing.

Moran after the race explained how it all turned out.

“It was good. Very relieved as always. When they all wanted to burrow through early from the second row we were quite happy to stay out of that. It was going to be an electric lead time and it was going to be more beneficial for us if we could get around when we wanted and dictate.

It was a funny race. It showed how many early moves were being made in the early stages of the race. They went 28.8 seconds in the second quarter and he’s gone around three wide. He’s gone exceptional. Hopefully Jame’s horse Nyack is all OK. It was helpful to us when we found the lead.

He’s a beautiful horse. It’ll be a sad day when he goes. We don’t know what to do with him now. He can be a bit of a headache. When he’s right he puts it all together. If he was to go to Queensland we might go a bit earlier. But we could pick other races around here if all the good horses are up there.”

Following the race it was reported that Nyack had suffered an atrial fibrillation for the first time and will be stood down for 14 days as well as pending an electrocardiograph.

For complete race results, click here.

By Tony Milanese for Harnesslink

Interview courtesy Campbells Comments