“He took the race by the throat….”

LAST night’s Echuca Pacing Cup became a perfect family celebration for the Mannix clan.

Bred by John, trained by Tim and owned by Mannix Family Racing Syndicate, Madigan produced a genuine staying performance to secure the provincial feature.

Along with the above mentioned Mannix mob, members of the extended family also made the trek to watch Madigan’s victory.

“There were a few of us at the track last night,” Tim said. “Along with my immediate family some cousins came along from Bendigo and we made a pretty good night about it.

“He is a really family horse for us as Dad bred him and we share ownership.

“I’ve got to mention with me being busy with my employment, Dad does a lot of the work with him, so he deserves all the credit.

“As for the race itself, what a drive from Leigh (Sutton), he took the race by the throat and set up the win.”

Settled towards the tail of the field from barrier 10, Madigan was surged forward three-wide at the bell to turn the remainder of the 2560-metre trip into a “take no prisoners tournament.”

Racing in front of Bulldog Khan and Triple Saint Rock on his inside, Madigan remained wide around the final bend.

Showing a tremendous amount of intestinal fortitude, the son of Sweet Lou staved off a late challenge from Auckland Red along the sprint lane to score by a head.

Triple Saint Rock battled on gamely to be a head away third in 2:02.6.

“I’ve been happy with the horse for a while and was confident in him, but was worried about the draw and where he’d be in the run,” Mannix said. “Then when the leader got away with that 33.2 first quarter I didn’t give us much of a chance.

“Leigh summed it up perfectly though, and to his credit, he turned it into a take no prisoners tournament and got everything out of the horse.”