Manzelmann lands Cairns feature clean sweep

By Glenn Davis

Young Mackay trainer Lachie Manzelmann completed a clean sweep of the three features on the opening day of the Cairns Cup carnival when veteran galloper The Driller claimed the Cairns Amateur Cup at Cannon Park on Saturday.

Lining up for his 101st start, the 10-year-old The Driller made a sweeping run around the field on the home turn to hit the front halfway down the straight and held on to beat second placegetter Sigiriya Rock by almost half-a-length.

The win was another red-letter day for Manzelmann and jockey Adam Sewell, who has developed a strong partnership with the 26-year-old conditioner.

The pair earlier combined to win the Lightning Handicap with Cochrane and the Belle Of The Daintree with Miss Moneypenny.

The three feature wins continued Manzelmann’s run of success in the Northern Queensland Winter Racing Carnival after he claimed last month’s Mackay Cup and H.L. Black Memorial with Journalism and the Mackay Newmarket with Red Hot Lizzie.

Manzelmann also won the Mackay Lightning with Outback Action.

The Driller was heavily backed to start at $4, but never gave his trainer cause for concern when caught back in the field at the halfway mark.

“I wasn’t worried when he got back in the field as they get every chance to run on in Cairns,” Manzelmann said.

“He’s a 10-year-old now, but he doesn’t know that and he’s been getting around the stable like a young buck.”

The Driller’s win was his first since saluting at Atherton in October of last year and he came off a second placing in an Open Handicap at Emerald on August 17.

Manzelmann will now back up The Driller in the $150,000 Cairns Cup on Saturday.

The Driller was one of a handful of horses Manzelmann trained when he started training in Brisbane a few years ago.

All three of Manzelmann’s feature winners are part-owned by his father, John, who took a step back from training last year to merge his stable with his son’s.

Cochrane’s dominant three length win was his 13th in a career spanning 86 starts and took his prizemoney to almost $350,000.

“His win was super, but he’s a funny old horse,” Lachie Manzelmann said.

“When he’s in-form, he’s in form and when he’s not, he’s not.

“He had no luck when beaten in the Townsville Lightning, but he got into a perfect spot this time.”

Miss Moneypenny started $3.50 favourite to lead all the way and defeat the fast-finishing Bollinger Miss, while Cochrane was unwanted in betting, starting at $21.

Cochrane’s win was sweet revenge for John Manzelmann, who trained the gelding when he finished behind Stephen Massingham’s Lady Damus in last year’s Lightning.