Canterbury trainer Brad Mowbray produced an effort that surely would have impressed the late thoroughbred training legend by winning his third country cup in just five days at Cromwell on Saturday.
The feat was completed when Four Starzzz Shiraz paced to an upset victory in the hands of junior driver Charlotte Purvis. The Mowbray stable won the Central Otago Cup at Omakau with Tiger Thompson on Tuesday and the Roxburgh Cup with Delishka on Thursday.
Completing a cups treble was not something Mowbray had even considered when he set south with a team of horses to compete on the Central Otago summer circuit.
"No, I never even thought about it," Mowbray said.
"Cromwell I thought was the hardest for us to win because we did not have the horse power as we did in the other two races," Mowbray had numbers on his side in Saturday’s race as he also lined up the 10th-placed Quite Ideal and Eja Patron (12th).
The path taken by Four Starzzz Shiraz to Saturday’s cup was slightly unusual one, going from the claimers’ grade to taking on some of the South Island’s best pacers.
Four Starzzz Shiraz could not keep pace with his stablemate, Tiger Thompson, in a sizzling group 2 Central Otago Cup, but faced a massive drop in class in the Cromwell Cup.
"He went well the other day at Omakau — that was a whole different level to today," Mowbray said after his horse’s victory.
Four Starzzz Shiraz’s win provided Purvis with the biggest thrill of her short career as a driver.
The victory was the Oamaru reinswoman’s third victory and her first cup win, which came in her first cup drive.
Purvis gave Four Starzzz Shiraz a cosy trip in the running line before angling into the clear and letting him down for his winning run.
Amateur race regular Sweet Loress charged out of the pack but came up half a length short of reeling in the winner.
Oamaru horseman Colin McKay also celebrated a Central Otago treble on Saturday.
His charge, Playboy’s Brother, strode to a front-running victory to score his third win in five days.
The 7yr-old was a track record-breaking winner at Omakau on Tuesday and backed that win up with another faultless display at Roxburgh.
McKay described the hat-trick of victories as one of the highlights of his training career.
"Three wins in five days is unbelievable. It’s quite emotional, really."
Part of Playboy’s Brother’s transformation over the Central Otago circuit from problem-child to seemingly unbeatable trotter can be credited to a key investment.
McKay trialled the horse with a borrowed overcheck before leaving to base his horses at Cromwell for the summer racing period.
The trial was an improvement on Playboy’s Brother’s previous form and prompted his trainer to buy what would turn out to be a very valuable piece of gear.
"I bought the overcheck before coming to Cromwell and it only arrived the day before I left."
