Sandersons making Ouyen Cup their own

Shane and Ryan Sanderson are quickly making harness racing’s Greggs Electrical Ouyen Pacing Cup their own.

The Charlton father and son combined to win the country feature on Sunday with Equity Stride, who led all the way and held off Stratofortress in a photo finish to claim the race by a half-head.

It was almost a carbon copy of their 2021 triumph with Blaster Ranger, who also found the lead and held off Egodan by a similar margin.

“It feels great,” Ryan Sanderson said on Sunday.

“The pressure was on a little bit today, but it’s just very satisfying to cross the line first and for Dad again.”

Sanderson sent Equity Stride straight to the front from barrier two and after a good trip out in front, the five-year-old shot clear approaching the straight. He looked to have Stratofortress (Greg Scholefield/Kerryn Manning) well and truly beaten turning for home, but despite a tough trip in the breeze, that horse dug deep and charged late to only go down by a narrow margin.

Pocket Thedeal (Julie Douglas/Jack Laugher), who trailed Equity Stride from gate one, held on for third, just ahead of Budd Sidewinder (Ashleigh Markham).

Shane Sanderson said it was a pleasing result after a somewhat lean run for the stable.

“The stable is coming good again and Ryan has been going well with his driving,” he said.

“We are trying to get a few horses going a bit better. He did a good job on him today because he’s not the easiest horse.”

Equity Stride, who only had his first start for the Sanderson team in August last year, has now won eight races from 25 career runs.

There were emotional scenes earlier in the meeting when Shaun McNaulty-trained Gobsmacked claimed the Les Patching Memorial Pace.

The horse is raced by McNaulty, his brother Jason and father Noel, who had a strong association with Patching before his passing.

The race has been run in Patching’s honour for the past five years, with Gobsmacked a winner of it when it was for three-year-olds back in 2019.