Captains Knock breaks track record in Newcastle Cup

Powerhouse pacer Captains Knock (Captaintreacherous) yet again demonstrated his prowess with an effortless all the way harness racing win in the $60,000 Listed Steel City Cup at Newcastle on Friday evening.

Facing what looked to be a weakened race, Captains Knock was installed a prohibitive favourite and from the outside of the front row driver Brad Hewitt was in no mood looking for a cover as he sent Captains Knock to the front and the four year old accordingly looked formidable while in front.

His only danger Max Delight couldn’t go the early pace and was eased back as the field raced in Indian file. Will Rixon on Max Delight come off the rails in an effort to inject some action into the event with a lap left to travel.

CAPTAINS KNOCK DEC 5 REPLAY

Captains Knock after coasting early was able to run his final two quarters in 27.1 and 27.9 seconds and Hewitt kept his mind on the job to record an eight metre win over a gallant Max Delight with I Break The Line holding on for third place.

In winning Captains Knock smashed the 2550 metre track record previously held by Zeuss Bromac of 1.55.1 by running nearly a full second faster in 1.54.2.

He also stays in contention for the New South Wales Carnival of Cups bonus having won the first leg at Wagga three weeks back. All going well he will head to Bathurst and Albury for the third and fourth legs and the series will culminate with the Renshaw Cup at Penrith next year on 20 March.

A huge crowd turned up in warm weather to witness a top night’s racing with entertainment and although the Cup itself was not as competitive as expected the club would be satisfied with the attendance and overall interest in the meeting.

Brad Hewitt indicated after the event that even though the Bonus remains his target, some of the key Victorian cups are likely to be aimed for as well.

This guy’s absolutely flying at the minute. So hopefully we can keep it up. He’s got to keep ticking over the Victorian races are good money. Who knows if he could get a draw or two there’s a bonus there as well.

But the bonus is a priority we are one win away from quarter of a million so that will be at the forefront of our mind. He thrives on consistent racing so we’re not going to baby him too much and keep him at home.

I don’t care if he gets beat as long as he is on song for Bathurst (the next Carnival of Cups) and hopefully we can knock that off. And hopefully another one or two after.

For complete race results, click here.

by Tony Milanese, for Harnesslink