Tanabi Bromac and Gavin Lang claim the 2010 Neatline Homes Shepparton Gold Cup
There’s a fair chance Elmore trainer Keith Cotchin will be covered in bruises.
The canny horseman would be excused for spending the time since Saturday night’s Neatline Homes Shepparton Gold Cup pinching himself following another dominant victory by rejuvenated gelding Tanabi Bromac.
The five-year-old further propelled himself up BIG6 Hunter Cup betting charts when he accounted for a cracking field in the $50,000 Group 2.
It has Cotchin excited about the $400,000 feature event of the final harness meeting to ever be run at Moonee Valley on Saturday night, February 6.
“I remember going to the first meeting at Moonee Valley, just being a face in the crowd trying to get a horse good enough to get to the races,” Cotchin recalled.
“If someone there had have said to me that all these years on I’d be going to the last meeting there with a horse in the Hunter Cup, and be a real chance, I would have told them they were an idiot.
“It’s just a dream and it would be absolutely incredible if he could win it.”
Not many horses are better placed to do so than the former Alabar Victoria Derby winner. Saturday night’s four-metre win followed a similarly impressive win in the Wimmera Mail-Times Horsham Cup, also a $50,000 Group 2.
That all-the-win went a long to relieving Tanabi Bromac’s reputation as a horse who needs cover to be a threat and he further dispelled that theory at Shepparton.
After pinging away from the 10-metre line in the 2690m stand, the son of Live Or Die was given time to settle before champion reinsman Gavin Lang took him around to assume the spot outside leader Jackson Grant at the 1800m.
There were few moves after that, despite Jackson Grant coasting through the first and second quarters in 32.5 and 31.5 seconds, which enabled Tanabi Bromac to dash home in 28.5 and 28.2 quarters for a 2:02.8 win.
Cincinnati Kid ($6) flashed home to pinch second from Tear It All Away ($18), while Karloo Mick ($3.60 fav) did a super job to claim fourth given he started off 20m and was second last at the end of that slow first half of the last mile.
“Once we were outside the leader it didn’t worry me that we were there because they weren’t running quick quarters,” Cotchin said.
“I just couldn’t believe nothing made a move because it made it near-impossible for them to get into the race.”
