KEY POINTS:
Luck had a cruel twist for training brothers Mike and Paul Moroney at Trentham.
The Moroney-trained 2-year-old Captain Fantastic yesterday was gifted victory in the $100,000 Ford Wakefield Challenge Stakes.
The 1200m event appeared to be all over when Fully Fledged swept to the lead midway down the home stretch but then the wayward colt decided to jump the inside rail and was pulled up.
Jockey Gavin McKeon and Fully Fledged were uninjured but the son of Align eliminated himself from a starting berth in next Sunday's $1 million 2-year-old race at Ellerslie.
Captain Fantastic came with a powerful sprint down the outer to defeat long shot Reuben Thorn by a nose with a further 1 1/2 lengths back to Fyfetheknife (third).
Fyfetheknife did not help his win prospects when breaking through the starting stalls before the race and his performance was full of merit.
However Cambridge-based trainer Murray Baker must now be driven to excessive drinking after Fully Fledged's back-to-back defeats, all self-inflicted.
Judging by his recent performances Fully Fledged will likely lose two bits of his anatomy.
Captain Fantastic will bypass next Sunday's $1 million feature as it would be asking too much of the Fantastic Light-sired colt to race on three consecutive weekends.
After enjoying that stroke of luck, disaster struck the Moroney stable.
Stablestar Xcellent broke down following his easy victory in the $100,000 WRC Trentham Stakes.
The 6-year-old settled in last position and reeled in his six rivals with a sustained sprint down the outer to win by a length over Three Chimneys with a neck back to Everswindell (third).
Regular jockey Michael Coleman immediately dismounted and walked the gelding back to the birdcage.
Xcellent was rushed to the Massey University Veterinary Clinic last night with a suspected cracked cannon bone in his near foreleg.
"We were quite lucky that one of our stable vets Danny Shaw was in attendance at the race meeting and he and the course vet assessed the horse after the race," said Paul Moroney.
"About 45 minutes after the race the vets were able to assess the horse as the painkillers they gave him kicked in. He'll have a series of x-rays and so forth at Massey tonight and hopefully he's suffered a cracked cannon bone.
"It's not life threatening and it may be the end of his career but I'd hate it to be something more serious."
Moroney was quick to defend the state of the Trentham track despite third-placed Everswindell also having a possible career-ending injury.
"The club has spent a lot of money preparing this track to be in great order for racing so nobody can blame track conditions.
"Michael Coleman told me after the race that Xcellent cruised up to the field but started to run outwards from his left leg when he expected him to put five lengths on the field.
"When the horse eased down from a fast gallop to a trot, Michael knew there was a serious injury."
The likely retirement of Xcellent is a hefty blow for the Moroneys who had to put down dual Group One winner Jokers Wild in Melbourne on Thursday after the 4-year-old entire failed to recover from a leg infection.
A yearling brother to Xcellent will be offered at the New Zealand Bloodstock Sales at Karaka and yesterday's winning stake may be put to quick use purchasing this youngster.
SEACHANGE handed out a comprehensive lesson in sprinting power when toying with a quality field while winning the $250,000 First Sovereign Trust Telegraph Handicap.
It took an exceptional performance from Darci Brahma to deny the queen of New Zealand racing victory in this event last year.
The Cape Cross-sired mare unleashed a ruthless display of sprinting power carrying the topweight of 58.5kg and striding clear of the opposition with 200m remaining to score by 3 1/2 lengths over Kay's Awake.
A further length away third was Maximum Star. The 1200m was covered in a sizzling 1:06.66.
Seachange's next race will be the Group One $200,000 Waikato Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa on February 9.
