Gary Clarke landed a winning treble at Fannie Bay yesterday, however he still played second fiddle to rival Victorian trainer Neil Dyer.
Dyer's dominance of the feature races during the Darwin Cup Carnival continued when his star performer Hawks Bay (Colin Haddon) took out the Sky Racing Metric Mile (1600m) on Day 5 of the Carnival.
What made Hawks Bay's win even more remarkable -apart from the fact that he carried 63kg to victory - is that amazingly he started at $14.
Based on his wonderful record in the Top End, the odds were certainly inviting but he will now be all the rage in the $175,000 Carlton Mid Darwin Cup (2000m) on August 1.
Going into yesterday's race, the five-year-old gelding was a $3.60 favourite for the Cup ahead of $3.80 chance The Ruffian , who is aiming to become only the third third three-year-old to seal the Triple Crown.
After producing moderate in his past two races, Hawks Bay bounced back to his best yesterday against a high quality field and after finishing second in the last two Cups the Dyer camp may finally annex Darwin's No.1 race.
Well-placed behind early pace-setter Sound Of Nature (Paul Shiers) in second spot for most of the race, Hawks Bay made his move turning for home before the Stephen Brown-trained Bolton, who was travelling fifth, struck.
Hawks Bay's stablemate Palmyra Boy (Jan Cameron), who started as the $5 favourite after winning the ROANT Cup (1300m) and Chief Ministers Cup (1600m), made his move in the final 300m along the rails after trailing Sound Of Nature and Hawks Bay.
Palmyra Boy, who won the corresponding raced ahead of Hawks Bay last year, looked like winning the race with 200m to go, but his stalemate would not be denied and in the end he managed to shake the barn-storming Bolton by a long neck.
Bolton would have gained an automatic entry into the Cup with victory, so his future as far as featuring in the btg race on August 1 hangs in the balance.
The highly-talented Palmyra Bay wasn't all that far away in third place.
"The horse is coming right," Dyer said after Hawks Bay's win. He was set to carry 61kg in the Cup, but after today's win he'll probably incur a 1.5kg penalty.
"Palmyra Boy was just as impressive and he'll be cherry ripe as well come Cup day."
Former Alice Springs jockey Steve Arnold, who is now one of leading jockeys in Australia, will make the trip from Melbourne to ride Hawks Bay in the Cup.
Colin Haddon, who rode Hawks Bay yesterday, will ride the Ken Rogerson-trained Robdon Flyer in Darwin Cup.
Looking ahead to the Cup the Jason Manning-trained General Mazeratti (Vanessa Arnott), the Dick Leech-trained Club Liquid, who who the 2008 event, and the Phil Stokes-trained Naratel rallied in the home straight.
Neil Dyer's Darwin Cup Carnival success:
ROANT Cup (Palmyra Boy)
Bernborough Club Cup (Hawks Bay)
Chief Ministers Cup (Palmyra Boy)
Metric Mile (Hawks Bay)
