Moran sweeps both Cups at Corbram

Harness racing driver David Moran made a clean sweep of Cup Day at Cobram steering home the winners of both the Pacing and Trotters Cups.

Remarkably, Moran was having his first drive on both Invitation Only (Bettor’s Delight) who took out the Pacing Cup and Kyvalley Hotspot (Muscle Hill) who prevailed in the Trotters Cup.

The Isabel Walsh trained Invitation Only, who defied an alarming betting drift ($7 to $23), settled behind the leader and $1.80 favorite Earl Of Pembroke with the second elect Platinum Stride ($4.80) sitting parked following a mid-race move.

Earl Of Pembroke appeared set for victory on straightening however the ex-Kiwi Invitation Only mustered momentum along the sprint lane and made full use of the long Cobram straight to score by a neck with Hiranya five metres away third.

Moran said he was delighted to be part of a memorable win.

“This will be a really big thrill for Isabel and Peter, they’ve been trainers for a long time, and they help me at my stable, so they don’t just do their own horses,” Moran said.

“It’s a real credit to them that they’ve got him back to his New Zealand form and it’s great to get a winner for them,” he said.

Moran said he momentarily lost the back of the leader on the home turn.

“He tended to get on the one rein around the last bend and when they quickened up, he just sort of lost half a length, he’s a really nice horse and he’s only just turned four and come a long way very quickly,” he said.

Earlier in the day Moran partnered Kyvalley Hotspot who completed back-to-back country cups wins when he outclassed his rivals in the Cobram Trotters Cup.

At his previous cup attempt Kyvalley Hotspot downed Inter Dominion finalist Ollivici in the Yarra Valley Trotters Cup.

Moran showed plenty of initiative on Kyvalley Hotspot in the early stages of the race wresting the lead off Daquiri and assuming the front running with two laps to travel.

Kyvalley Hotspot ($4.20) pinched a winning break approaching the home turn and left those behind in his wake including stablemate and $3.20 favorite Aldebaran Keepa who emerged from the ruck albeit 20 metres from the winner on the line.

“Most of the horses seemed to get a pretty safe beginning and we had to stay in front of them without doing a power of work early,” he said.

“The aim was to stay in front of our main rivals and hopefully work our way to the top.”

by John Dunne, for Harnesslink