Both horses dominated betting – in 2019 Hang Man started favourite at 2/1 and finished almost half a length in front while Harlech swept past the leaders last week at 3/1 to win by a long neck.
Moroney may have also secured himself a place in Benalla racing history – this year’s cup was run over 1406 m instead of the usual 2046 m as a one-off because of the fixture’s COVID-19-impacted change of date and its clash with Cox Plate weekend at Moonee Valley.
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He may be the only trainer to win it over both distances.
On Friday stable representative Jack Turnbull said for Moroney, the team at their Flemington stables and the connections, “it was good to see Harlech get back into winning form”.
“The race had gone along at a good clip and he was able to get into a nice rhythm and travelled kindly – and then late in the piece where he really stretched out was great,” Turnbull said.
“When he comes back, a mile and a mile-and-a-half will be more his go – it was just good to see him put them away today,” he said.
“But there are still options here for him to climb through the grades – we will see how he goes when he comes back, but they are nice options to have.”
Harlech came to Australia from Moroney’s New Zealand stables after a 34-week layoff and his first two starts – in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield on September 19 and then the Group 1 Toorak Handicap, also at Caulfield, on October 10 were both shockers, finishing stone cold last both times.
The stables had been expecting big things, with the lightly raced Harlech coming off two wins and five placings in his nine-race career.
Moroney later said Harlech had ruined his chances in Group 1 races this spring by over racing and for the bet365 Benalla Gold Cup he added earmuffs and removed the tongue-tie to coax the best out of the Darci Brahma entire.
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Settled three pairs back with cover by rider Daniel Stackhouse, Harlech swung wide to challenge around the home turn and then ignored his big weight to finally stamp his class on an Australian track.
“To be honest I could not work out why he had run so poorly in his two races here as his trackwork was telling me he should have been competitive,” Moroney said.
“He didn’t help himself by over-racing; so we made a couple of tweaks to his gear and he was better on Friday,” he said.
“He got a great ride from Daniel; and then had to dig in to get the job done which was good to see. He was the best horse in the race but still had to give the runner-up 5 kg so it was good to see him get back to winning form.
“Talking to Daniel he said the horse relaxed lovely and was strong through the line and 1600 m might be better for him.
“There’s a few options for him coming up but we’ll see how he comes through this and make a plan.”
Robbed of members and sponsors attending on the day, following the Cox Plate crowd controversy, it was the first time the bet365 Benalla Gold Cup has been run in front of empty stands.
But Benalla Racing Club general manager Cam Symes declared the day a success on the pandemic meter.
Symes said the fact racing had not missed a beat as far as meetings go made up for what could have been a disaster.
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He said apart from strong ongoing local support, the club worked closely with Racing Victoria to ensure it remained linked with the grand final eve public holiday.
“That meant postponing the cup from September to October, changing its distance and having no crowds for our premier meeting of the year,” Symes added.
“But we still had a nine-race card, all with big fields and quality horses and we still attracted a lot of interest off-course and via racing.com” he said.
“It is a credit to every part of the racing industry, and to support from the Victorian Government, that in a country where nearly everything else has been shut down at some stage, racing kept going.
“And we will be back next year with our traditional date, with a big crowd and we’ll see if the Moroney stable can make it a hat-trick because 2020 has been a season where racing managed to pull a winning rabbit out of its own hat to keep going and our club thanks everyone for that effort and support.”
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