Team Teal ambassador Kerryn Manning enjoyed a successful Boort Cup Day, securing a driving treble with a victory aboard The Ninth Wave in the D.W. (Bill) Foley Tribute Trot, followed by a Cup double with Sir Eros and Lincoln River later in the afternoon.
Six-year-old trotter Sir Eros, trained by Danny O’Brien, faced a challenging run, racing parked for the majority of the event. Despite the tough journey, he ran home well to claim the Hon. Peter Walsh Boort Trotters Cup.
"Going into it, I thought he had a bit of a chance if he had the right kind of luck," said Manning. "He's always been good from a stand in general, and I’ve won on him in the past in a stand, but obviously, I haven’t driven him for quite a while."
“I said to Danny, 'What’s the plan?' and he said he's probably better with a sit,” said the multiple Group 1-winning driver.
"Everything worked out well early, and then a bit of a scrimmage happened, and we ended up stuck in the death," Manning said. "He's a big, strong horse, and once he didn’t have cover, he was pretty keen and strong to hold onto."
"I know the last quarter was slow, but he fought it out. I guess a few of the others had their chance to beat him, and Berriesandcherries went huge."
"He toughed it out really well, considering he was only second-up after a little while too, so it was a really good win," Manning said.
The Brent Lilley-trained and Austin Mifsud-driven Tripod finished a head away in the 2612-metre race, with Berriesandcherries finishing third for Doc Wilson and Ellen Tormey.
Manning secured her third victory of the day with Lincoln River, who was declared the winner of the Neil Beattie Family Boort Pacing Cup, despite finishing second past the post behind Collective Works.
"Going into it, he's been a bit hot and cold this time in," said Manning on the five-year-old gelding that she also trains. "I've got a fair opinion of him; he showed that last time in, but then had a few issues, had to have a bit of a break, and hasn’t really shown what I thought he could do this time."
"He had glimpses of it now and then, but I think he was just a bit fat, so I elected to work him pretty solidly and feed him less to tighten him up," said Manning. "He went into it working super, but I still didn’t know if he was going to show up. It was sort of D-Day for him, and I was really pleased with his run."
"It's weird because I didn't actually win, but the one who beat him (Collective Works) is a pretty smart horse, and he beat the others quite comfortably," said Manning.
Collective Works was ultimately disqualified by stewards for re-entering the field after galloping and being inside the sprint lane at approximately the 1600m mark.
The Joe Thompson-trained and Luke Dunne-driven Cee Cee In America finished second, with Angus Indiana finishing third for Freddy Taiba and James Herbertson.
Photos: Victorian Square Trotters Association