On Sunday the great trotting action of the past weekend came to a finish with the running of the $25 000 Listed Echuca Cup (2530m) where the classy pacer Dazed And Confused claimed victory.
A five-year-old daughter of Troublemaker the Dean Braun-trained Dazed And Confused ($4.70) defeated surprise second placegetter and longest-priced runner Mister Douglas ($36.70) by 4.4m with Very Chic less than a metre back in third.
It was a great finish for runner-up Mister Douglas after being held up early and sitting three back on pegs at the bell.
Very Chic began badly but made up ground by using the sprint lane to come in a gallant third.
Pre-race favourite Miss Laura Jane ($3.60) crossed the line a devastating third last in ninth place after a poor start from barrier four.
It was also a sad finish for last year’s Echuca Cup third-placegetter Mystical Warrior ($13.40). The seven-year-olds’ trainer Glenn Freeman was hoping to improve on last year but came in a dismal sixth after racing roughly and being held up.
Mystical Warrior did however do one better than the defending Echuca Cup champion, Wideford Hill in seventh. Wideford Hill led at the bell but dropped out of contention under pressure.
Driven by Rodney Petroff, Dazed And Confused originally trailed the early leader Wideford Hill, but then took full advantage of her access to the sprint lane in the run home.
Dazed And Confused, who took out the Group 1 Australian Pacing Gold Final two years back, is now hoping for an invitation to the Group 1 $100 000 Ladyship Mile on April 25.
2010 Echuca Pacing Cup Results:
Placing |
Horse |
Prizemoney |
Trainer |
Driver |
Row & Br. |
Margin (m) |
| 1 |
DAZED AND CONFUSED |
$16 875 | D F Braun | R W Petroff | Fr6 | - |
| 2 |
MISTER DOUGLAS |
$3 750 | J D Taylor | G A Craven | Fr1 | 4.40 |
| 3 |
VERY CHIC (NZ) |
$2 500 | P G Manning | K E Manning | Sr2 | 5.10 |
| 4 |
NO ENCORE |
$1 250 | S J O’Donoghue | T C Matthews | Fr2 | 10.00 |
| 5 |
JUST WAL |
$625 | A L Peacock | D R Wilson | Sr5 | 11.90 |
| 6 |
MYSTICAL WARRIOR |
- | G P Freeman | C A Lang | Fr5 | 12.00 |
| 7 |
WIDEFORD HILL (NZ) |
- | M J Williamson | S W Dyer | Sr1 | 13.80 |
| 8 |
HARRY WALTON |
- | R J O’Connell | R J O’Connell | Fr3 | 14.50 |
| 9 |
MISS LAURA JANE |
- | G F Douglas | D K Douglas | Fr4 | 15.40 |
| 10 |
VERANJEE |
- | A J Fullwood | J J Caldow | Sr4 | 18.30 |
| 11 |
OUR MADAGASCAR (NZ) |
- | G F Douglas | G F Douglas | Sr3 | 21.90 |
| SCRATCHED: | ||||||
| SHOWDOWNATMIDNIGHT | ||||||