Racing: Showcause toughs out Cup victory

Showcause and jockey Darryl Bradley. Photo / Sarah Ivey

They do not come much tougher than Showcause who overcame a horror run during the early stages to outstay his rivals and score a gritty victory in the $100,000 (Group Two) Avondale Cup.

Showcause was asked to do plenty of work sweeping forward three wide around the field at the 1200m mark to sit outside the leader for the closing 600m.

Darryl Bradley knew how tough an athlete he had under him maintaining the pressure of the opposition and kicking clear with 100m remaining to score by a length over Innocent Lady.

A further nose away in third position was the fast closing Loose Change.

All honours were with the winner - who covered the most ground of any runner - and was a sitting duck for slick, sit-sprint runners in the home stretch.

Innocent Lady is a promising mare with a slick turn of speed but she couldn't head Showcause the length of the home stretch.

"That was huge effort as he did a stack of work to get around the field and I was really worried about Innocent Lady peeling off his back in the home stretch and out-sprinting us," said trainer Frank Ritchie.

"I said to Darryl to try and get handy with him and not to panic as there was a bit of early speed in the race.

"He's never ridden a bad race on the horse and hopefully that'll be the pattern after the Auckland Cup. This horse is from a slow maturing family and he's just needed that bit of extra time to strengthen up and grow into being a racehorse."

Ellerslie has been a happy hunting ground for the 5-year-old - four wins and three minor placings from eight starts - and will carry an imposing record into the $1 million Auckland Cup on March 9.