RACKEMUP Tigerpie took the spotlight on Sunday, winning big at the Hamilton Harness Racing Club’s 2022 Pacing Cup, rewarding owner, Ian Stanley with $19,950 in prize money.

Michael Stanley was the trainer and driver for the horse and was overjoyed to take home the biggest race of the day.

The 10-race program attracted people from all over, including interstate with hot weather ensuring the track was fast.

The $30,000 Hamilton Pacing Cup was the main drawcard for the day and without a hot favourite, it was anyone’s race.

Rackemup Tigerpie stamped its authority on the rest of the field early, as the gelding ran away to win the feature race.

The seven-year-old gelding came into the race having not won since June 2019 but put an end to that with a strong performance on Sunday.

The top three was rounded out by Highway to Heaven, driven by Codi Rauchenberger, and the Kerryn Manning-driven Kimble.

The Hamilton Trotters Cup was the other feature race for the day and with a strong field, it lived up to the hype.

Kyvalley Finn came into the race as one of the favourites and didn’t disappoint, claiming the cup in convincing fashion.

Trained by Chris Svanosio and driven by Jason Lee, the seven-year-old gelding was too strong for the rest of the field including the short-priced favourite, Lotamuscle, which was also driven by Manning, to finish second.

Hamilton Harness Racing Club manager, David Johnson said Lee executed his plan for the race very well managing to finish in front of the pack.

“It played out well, he got in front, and he just led and that was his plan all the way, he made the other ones work and a few of them broke up in the process,” he said.

Svanosio was also the trainer and driver for Norquay which rounded out the standings in the Trotters Cup and a great day from an individual perspective.

Johnson said the day ran smoothly despite an unexpected lack of spectators attending on the day.

“The day went very well, there were no hiccups, it was probably a little bit hot for the track, but we ran some good times,” he said.

“Crowd wise, I was pretty disappointed, I think society has changed somewhat since COVID hit two years ago, we were very disappointed with the crowd.

“As a member of the committee, I think we’ve got to wonder whether it’s worth it sometimes.”

Johnson said while it was great to have the sun out, the day was a bit hotter than they had hoped, as it jumped over 30 degrees and made the track a bit harder.

Despite this, there were some very strong times pushing closer to some of the current track records and a good turnout of drivers and horses.

“We had a time of 1.53 which is quite fast, one lead time was just short of a track record … we had a few issues with a bit of dust (on the track) and couldn’t get enough water on it with the temperature at about 31 degrees,” he said.

“Nominations held up very well, there was only the maiden three-year-old race which was a bit low, the rest of them had good fields.

“It was very good to see the strong nominations for both cup meetings and the higher-level races, they all had good nominations, South Australia supported us unbelievably with the horses.

“The feedback from the drivers, trainers and everyone was good, everyone was happy with the day.”

Trained by Robert McCartney and driven by Jason Lee, Carramar Solomona took out the opening race of the day, blwoing away the competition including the raging favourite, Tarifa Girl, which placed third - I Can Tell You finished second after a strong ride from Michael Bellman.

In race two, it was Hamilton local, Jackie Barker, who impressed, claiming the win on Icicle with experienced trainer, Geoff Senior, watching on - it was Barker’s second win since she started driving the horse just a few months ago.

Lucky Pats Son placed second while Surprise to Me took home third position in the 2160m race.

It was Mister Uptown who took home the prizemoney in race three as Kevin Brough put in a strong ride on the gelding to win, giving local training, Rebecca East the spoils.

Smart Play placed second, while Barker was again among the standings, finishing third on Fire Official.

There wasn’t much separating the top few in race four with Badluckbaz winning, Lee was again at the helm of the horse much to the delight of trainer, David Phillips.

True Blue Rose and Loco Sheffield had great races and finished in second and third place respectively.

Madeeba was the talk of the town in race five, trained by Kelvin Barker, the nine-year-old gelding got clear and won comfortably with a great ride from Jordan Leedham.

Tuesdays Edition finished the race in second while Eastbro Adele held on to third position.

In race seven, it was no surprise that Eva Mateo dominated the rest of the field as the hot favourite won by a significant distance – the horse was trained by Peter Manning and driven by Kerryn Manning.

Springfield Affair came from nowhere to upset the field and finish in second, while Flying Art claimed third position.

Race nine saw Sweet Annie May take it all the way to win with Rod Barker the driver and Jefferey Towers the trainer.

It was a tight finish where favourite, Rockella just missed out by half a head to finish second.

Eastbro Erin took home the win in race 10 with another great driving performance from Bellman giving East another winner.

Surfsup Tigerpie finished second, followed by the Jim Barker-trained Presidential Art.

Johnson said planning is underway for its next major meet.

“Our next major meeting is on Easter Monday, April 18, we’ve got others before then but that is our next major meet, we do encourage a family day for that day, it should be a nice day out,” Johnson said.