This was the big one. The Dog trying to write the record books. Tapdog's principal owner, Peter H "Dayo" Day, had passed away on Sep 27th 2006. Peter was a racing icon in the Geraldton region, and recognised as one of the most astute men of his era.
It had never been done before. No horse had ever won the Gold Cup three times. The lead up to the race was enormous, especially with the emotion surrounding the sad passing of his beloved owner. The old warrior was already the crayfish coasts most popular local runner and Clive Lauritsen had already saddled up 5 past winners. Jockey Roy McKay had booted home two winners including the Dog.
The race plan was cooked up, as we'd done every year, based on the barrier position. Again we'd drawn wide which meant we'd need a bit of luck to pull it off. Excitement was high.
Part owner Peter R Day had been ordered to stay in Paris. Each time he'd set foot on track to watch the dog...disaster. In fact, he'd never seen any of his horses win so rather that risk fate, he stayed and watched over the web. The other international owner, Hans Hoiskar was gallivanting his way across the middle east and on this occasion would be camped out in Jordan. Hans, like Peter jnr had never witnessed a win of his champ.
On the big day everything was in order. The Dog had worked well l
eading up to the race and Clive had the 9yo in perfect condition.At the jump there was a lot of jostling for positions, with Dog ending up just worse that mid-field but outside other runners which is where we wanted to be. As it turned out, he was badly stripped at this point in the race, but continued on like the old warrior that he is. The big danger was on his inside in Kia Ora Miss. We wanted to move before Peter Hall did on her, and lock her in making her have to go around the entire field to win.
As plans went, it was perfect. Roy rode the Dog a treat. He started gathering up the field from the 800m and by the corner was running into 2nd spot. He railed into the home straight taking the lead from Pagan Prince, with the swoopers putting in their runs behind him. With Roy riding like a man possessed, the Dog did what we all dreamed of. He got up and won the Cup for the third time.
The meaning of it all was enormous.
