Super trainer Darren Weir was the toast of Werribee Racecourse once again on Sunday.
Weir made it back-to-back Werribee Cups when his $3.30 favourite High Church crossed the line in first place.
A year ago, Weir was celebrating when Tall Ship saluted at short-priced odds, with jockey Brad Rawiller on board.
High Church, steered by jockey Michael Dee, produced a magnificent run in this year’s effort, beating The Chairman, trained by Mick Price and ridden by Dom Tourneur, by two lengths.
The other Weir-trained entrant, Master Zephyr, ridden by Ben Allen, ran third.
High Church, a six-year-old bay gelding originally from Ireland, settled into a nice position in fourth at the first turn, sitting in the slipstream of the front three – Mabeel, The Chairman and Freshwater Storm – which set the pace.
It was Mabeel, ridden by Dwayne Dunn, that was the more proactive of the three, creating separation with the field.
As Mabeel tired, the pack bunched up, this presented an opportunity for High Church to swoop.
With The Chairman and Mabeel locked in an arm wrestle for front position on the rails, the outside opened up for High Church to move in and take over.
Rawiller timed High Church’s run to perfection, the horse winning by two lengths and bagging the $55,000 prize for first place.
Despite doing hard yards at the front of the field, Mabeel finished a close fourth after Master Zephyr zipped in from the back of the field to claim a place.
