Captain Hammerhead surprises Swayzee in Albury Cup

In one of the most memorable races seen for some time, Captain Hammerhead (Captaintreacherous) held off a gallant Swayzee to take out the $60,000 SS&A Club of Murray Albury Pacing Cup last night.

Captain Hammerhead and trainer-driver David Moran (Club Menangle photograph)A capacity crowd of over 7,000 saw a thrilling tactical race which saw an electrifying early pace set by Diamond  Eclipse.

David Moran on Captain Hammerhead moved out in front of Swayzee and was determined to stay in front of the latter. And his tactics paid off after a lap when he was able to lead and have Swayzee race outside him.

REPLAY 14 FEB CAPTAIN HAMMERHEAD

But Moran also kept the pace going making Swayzee work and at the same time the rest of the field was struggling to keep up. Josh Gallagher set Cya Art alight and he was able to secure a trail behind the leader.

However along the back straight the crowd was gearing up for an epic finish as both Captain Hammerhead and Swayzee dashed away from the rest of the field. To the surprise of many Captain Hammerhead drew over four metres clear and it was obvious that Swayzee would have a battle on his hands. With Moran driving vigorously Captain Hammerhead stayed clear but Swayzee showing wonderful courage continued to grind away and he was actually making ground near the line but he failed by only a neck with Cya Art a further 16 metres away third.

The tempo was so fast that the track record for the 2570 metre trip was smashed by five seconds with a  mile rate of 1.57.1.

Captain Hammerhead’s win denied Swayzee the $500,000 bonus of winning a fourth consecutive County Cup having won previous cups at Parkes, Young and Tamworth.

Captain Hammerhead has always shown more than average ability but he has had his fair share of issues that has hampered his progress. Only two starts ago he was first past the post but subsequently disqualified from the Shepparton Cup. Last start he was caught wide in the Pure Steel at Melton on the night that Swayzee took out the AG Hunter Cup.

David Moran stated:

“It’s tough when you’re coming up against these champions. Like I said the other day these little tracks bring them all back to earth. 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. We had to keep running and the closer he wanted to get to our girth, we had to go quicker.”

“He’s a warrior Swayzee and he’s always going to keep coming. Dominic Martello (owner) and his wife Rose have put a lot of money into the game.”

Moran added:

“He’s a big horse but he tends to get crook easily. His immune system is sometimes not the best.”

“We’re not quite sure of the future but we’ll go to Sydney for the Miracle Mile qualifiers. A start in the $60,000 Renshaw Cup at Penrith on 15 March is on the cards. We could also go to the Nullabor in Perth if we get an invitation. But if all goes well we’ll take him to the Inter Dominion in Brisbane in July.”

Owner Dominic Martello was thrilled following the event.

“A brilliant drive by David. It all just worked out. He’s a bit up and down this horse and he’s taking his time to get to his mark. I think when he really matures you’ll see a nice horse.”

Swayzee was magnificent in defeat and it was a testament to his courage that he only just failed to pick up Captain Hammerhead after looking beaten at the top of the straight.

On such an eventful and remarkable night, harness racing was a big winner all due to the efforts of the Albury Club and Harness Racing New South Wales that successfully promoted this event that brought national attention. It goes to show good horses will attract attention so clearly the focus will be on promoting feature races. In the meantime Albury is to be congratulated on putting on such a wonderful spectacle that was enjoyed by all who attended.

by Tony Milanese, for Harnesslink