Flemington trainer Nick Ryan secured victory in Sunday’s Echuca Cup, but it was his outsider Red Phantom who upstaged stablemate Capper Thirtynine to claim the win.
Despite going in as the stable’s second-stringer, Red Phantom ($21) held his ground down the straight, refusing to let Capper Thirtynine ($1.65) surge past. In a tense finish, he edged out the odds-on favourite by a head, defying expectations.
“It upset the party with Warwick (Capper) being here and a lot of the owners, but it’s great for Red Phantom’s connections,” Ryan said.
The victory marked Ryan’s second Echuca Cup win, his first coming three years ago with Not To Be Mist. It also capped off a winning treble for the trainer, following earlier successes with Big Me ($2.30) and Dirty Grin ($1.40).
Meanwhile, in the Stony Creek Cup, race favourite Fam Gorman ($1.60) lived up to expectations, narrowly defeating Independent Road ($2.60) in a hard-fought finish.
“He’s always been a handy horse, but it’s taken a while since he’s come from overseas to put it together,” the connections said.
“He’d run some good races, but down in the weights and this was a target race. It looked like Capper had him, but he fought back and got the job done.”
