Great stayer Swayzee kept in the family when he demolished his rivals in last night’s $300,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup (2240m) at Melton.
Swayzee is the older half-brother to Australia’s champion pacer Leap To Fame, who was $1.20 prepost favourite for the Cup before being shock race-eve scratching.
But this was Swayzee’s night as driver Cam Hart blasted him around the field from a back row draw and attacked leader Mach Dan before working to the front and turning the race into a brutal staying test.
“He felt great all the way. He’s just a beast when he gets out and bowling in front. Even coming to the final bend, he was still strong,” Hart said.
Swayzee, an easing $3.70 favourite, held on to beat stablemate Curly James by four metres in a scorching 1min51.8sec mile rate for 2240m, just 0.4sec outside the track record.
“I told everyone he was as good as I’d ever had him going into it. Leap To Fame couldn’t have sat outside him and beaten him tonight,” trainer Jason Grimson said.
It was Swayzee’s third “mega” win. He famously beat Leap To Fame in last year’s Blacks A Fake in Brisbane then became just the second Aussie-trained pacer since 1987 to win the iconic NZ Cup at Addington last November.
Earlier, champion trotter Just Believe snared the ninth Group 1 win of his stellar career with a gritty win in the $75,000 Bill Collins Trotters’ Sprint (1720m).
Just when it seemed leader Ollivici was going to cause the upset, Just Believe lifted despite doing all the work outside the leader and snatched a 1.4m in a slick 1min54.1sec mile rate, just one second outside Tornado Valley’s track record.
“I knew he’d rally, he always does, but I was a little concerned when Ollivici gave a big kick on the home bend,” Just Believe’s driver Greg Sugars said.
Just Believe now heads to NZ next month to chase more Group 1 glory in the $NZ400,000 Dominion Trot at Addington in Christchurch on November 12.
