KEY POINTS:
Dave Shorter struggled to see his greatest moment in harness racing - he was crying too hard.
Shorter trains just one horse but that was all he needed as Eyecatcher Courage thrashed many of New Zealand's best three-year-old fillies in the $150,000 Sires' Stakes Championship at Alexandra Park.
The leggy daughter of Courage Under Fire capitalised on a beautiful drive from Tony Herlihy to blow past Fight Fire With Fire as favourite Susie Maguire struggled after burning early.
It was almost too much for Pukekohe hobby trainer Shorter, who admits he was screaming and bursting into tears in the home straight.
"When I saw her coming the tears started streaming down my face," said Shorter.
"That was something special, Tony drove her perfect and I never thought I'd win a race like this against the best trainers in the country."
The victory looked even less likely three months ago when Eyecatcher Courage was an unraced maiden in the country's smallest stable.
But right from the time she burst on to the scene, winning her first two races, Shorter was thinking big.
So big he paid the $5000 late entry fee to get Eyecatcher Courage into the Caduceus Club Ladyship Stakes last start, only to see her ruin her chances with an early gallop before roaring into fifth.
Now the one-horse trainer is thinking of group one glory in the Pascoes Northern Oaks in a few months before he has to start making decisions usually reserved for the top trainers.
Eyecatcher Courage is eligible for the rich Breeders Crown series in Australia in August but before then Shorter has to plot his way through the Alexandra Park features, Nevele R Fillies Series, New Zealand Oaks and Harness Jewels at Cambridge on May 31.
"We have a lot to think about but we will go home and enjoy this and think about it all in a few days.
"The great part is she still has so much to learn because Tony said she started to pull up when she got to the front."
The win was the second leg of a huge double for Herlihy, who a race earlier reined One Over Kenny to another effortless win in the $75,000 National Trot.
She overcame a wide draw to set a national mares' record for 2700m mobile, with Houdini Star keeping her company in the home straight while the rest of our leading trotters were distanced. The win confirmed her position as the hot favourite to win the Interdominion on March 1.
