Copy That's Cranbourne shocker

by Adam Hamilton 

The connections of NZ Cup winner Copy That were left gobsmacked and without answers after the worst run of his stellar career in last night’s Group 2 Cranbourne Cup.

Sure, he did some work and sat parked, but the superstar was spent well before the final bend and dropped right out to finish last – 36m behind upset winner Supreme Dominator and 20m behind the second-last horse.

It was unthinkable.

And owner Merv Butterworth said connections were none the wiser in the aftermath.

“We can’t find any reason why he’d run like that,” he said. “Horses can make you look silly at times.”

Copy That will undergo an exhaustive series of tests today in a quest to get answers and resurrect his Victorian raid, aimed at races like the Ballarat Cup on January 22 and the Hunter Cup on February 5.

If there is any upside, Copy That has bounced-back strongly from a “shocker” before and fairly recently.

It was back on June 6 in the Harness Jewels final when Ray Green’s superstar ran a mystifyingly bad ninth as favourite.

Less than a month later, Green turned him around to brilliantly win at Albion Park and go onto a Brisbane winter campaign which netted two wins, including the Group 1 Sunshine Sprint, as well as a second in Group 1 Rising Sun and fourth in the Group 1 Blacks A Fake.

But it’s certainly not the run Green and Butterworth hoped for or expected to open Copy That’s Victorian campaign.

The plan was to go from Cranbourne to the Bendigo Cup on January 8 and then to Ballarat and the Hunter Cup.

Depending on Copy That’s status, another option is to skip Bendigo and go to the Shepparton Cup on January 15.

The Cranbourne Cup was won by rapidly improving former Kiwi pacer Supreme Dominator, trained by Joe Pace and driven by young gun James Herbertson.

Supreme Dominator led, took a sit on former champion Kiwi mare Amazing Dream, came to her outside and gunned her down late.

Amazing Dream was good, but driver Anthony Butt dictated his own terms in front and she looked to have every chance. Once again, she was unable to get the job done when leading. It just doesn’t seem her go.