On Saturday night Mantra Lad took out the $50 000 Group 1 Hotham Body Repairs Association Cup (720m) at Wentworth Park in a remarkable exhibit of pace and grace.
Favourite at extremely short odds of $1.50, the Graham Jose-trained Mantra Lad easily defeated Lochinvar Vogue ($8.70) by an impressive 6 ¼ lengths with the shock of the night going to the longest priced contender, Laura’s Legacy ($40.70) coming in just a head back for third.
Mantra Lad began brilliantly from box one and continued to lead all the way, running a scintillating 16.07 first sectional before pulling out an incredible burst of acceleration on the final turn to claim victory in 42.14 seconds over the 720m feature, NSW’s richest staying race, in his seventh successive victory.
Despite a strong start and some keen chasing that saw him never far from the eventual winner’s heels over the first few hundred meters, Dashing Corsair faded after the first 300m, the National Sprint Champion only managing to come in fifth at the finish.
The scratching of Reign Over Me and Santino Marella saw Drill ‘Em ($7.30) gain a start, the David Knocker-trained dog coming in a mere neck from Laura’s Legacy in fourth.
The son of Pure Octane, Mantra Lad has now won 26 of his 54 career starts. The Victorian star is owned by Martin and Fiona Hallinan, the couple also taking out the Association Cup back in 2000 with Many Trick.
2010 Association Cup Results:
Placing |
Dog |
Trainer |
Time |
Margin |
| 1 | MANTRA LAD | Graham Jose | 42.14 | - |
| 2 | LOCHINVAR VOGUE | Robert Smith | 42.58 | 6 ¼ |
| 3 | LAURA’S LEGACY | William Dance | 42.60 | head |
| 4 | DRILL ‘EM | David Knocker | 42.62 | neck |
| 5 | DASHING CORSAIR | Dwyer Lennon | 42.80 | 2 ½ |
| 6 | COUNTESS OF CORK | Pete Sayer | 42.88 | 1 |
| 7 | JARVIS BALE | Graeme Bate | 42.95 | 1 |
| Scratched: | ||||
| SANTINO MARELLA | ||||
| REIGN OVER ME | ||||
| SHADOW BOXER |
