Swayzee's NZ Cup odds shorten after Menangle win

By Adam Hamilton 

Don't write off the old boy just yet.

Champion stayer Swayzee showed he was peaking at the right time for a tilt at a record-equalling third Go Media NZ Trotting Cup win with a powerhouse win at Menangle last night.

There were serious glimpses of the brutal Swayzee of old as driver Cam Hart worked him to the lead after 400m and just kept rolling along.

He broke their hearts and raced away to win by 17.4m in a slick 1min52.3sec mile rate for 2300m.

Swayzee’s splits for the last mile were: 29, 27.9, 27.6 and 27.9.

Trainer Jason Grimson had warned all campaign Swayzee just needed racing and last night showed he was right.

That was his third run back from a lengthy spell.

"He was great tonight, but that's what he's been building towards," Hart said.

"It's really in the past week or so he's turned the corner and is right where we want him."

Swayzee won the 2023 and '24 NZ Cups, but missed last year's race when fellow Aussies Kingman and Leap To Fame ran the quinella.

He firmed from $16 to $9 to add a third NZ Cup win after last night's display.

The rising nine-year-old will be on the plane from Sydney to Auckland today (Sunday) with two of his key NZ Cup rivals, Leap To Fame and Kingman. Superstar trotter Gus will be on the same flight.

Swayzee's stablemate Minos will progress to the NZ Cup after Kaikoura tomorrow (Monday), meaning there will be four Aussies in the race.

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Another Aussie star set to raid NZ is brilliant filly Ark Sea.

The Sam Hewitt-trained filly made it 13 wins from 17 starts, including nine from 11 this season when she scored well in last night's $150,000 Group 1 NSW Breeders Challenge final at Menangle.

She successfully defended the crown she won as a two-year-old last season.

"If there's no spot in the TAB Eureka for her, the NZ Oaks is the night before the Eureka and I wouldn't mind experiencing NZ," Hewitt said.

Ark Sea gave Will Rixon a feature driving double on the night. He scored earlier on Gunna Reload, trained by his father Peter Rixon, in the $50,000 NSW Breeders Challenge final for four-year-old mares.