All eyes were on Beast Mode during the Peter Marshall Memorial Final (2000m) at Blayney's Carnival of Cups meeting on Sunday but it was a stablemate who stole the show.
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Beast Mode, the $3 favourite, galloped early and dropped out of contention.
In what then became an open final, Tom Pay produced a fine drive to guide Hammertime Harley ($9) to a resounding win.
Beast Mode and Hammertime Harley are both trained by Gemma Rue at Bathurst, where Pay is based and also works.
"It helps when you've got a couple of nice ones in the stable and things didn't pan out for Beast Mode but they did for Hammertime Harley," Dubbo's Pay said.
"It worked out really well. I tracked through and got into a handy position and I was only one out, two back.
"That wasn't too far back coming from [gate] 10 and she always felt like a winner.
"Even at the 400 [metres] I was feeling pretty confident."
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As Pay said, the start worked out well for him as he was able to push forward from gate 10 and settle midfield as Royal Feeling ($14) went hard at the front early on.
Beast Mode had dropped back to last by that stage while another highly fancied hope, the Amanda Turnbull-driven Woodlands Wonder ($4), also sat deep in the field.
On the bell lap Pay waited for his chance and then at the top of the back straight he peeled to the extreme outside and Hammertime Harley responded by showing a great turn of foot.
The consistent four-year-old mare rounded the field and led the field into the home straight.
She kicked further clear from there and went on to win by a comfortable 9.6m in a mile-rate of 2:01:9.
"She hadn't been working too bad and she'd been good in the week leading up so we were hoping she'd get a little lucky," Pay said, Hammertime Harley now having a record of four wins and 14 placings from 31 starts.
"She's won just under $40,000 and only won four times so that shows she is always thereabouts."
The win continued a handy recent run of form for Pay.
The concession driver scored a win at Young on Friday night and will head into the upcoming Red Ochre Mares Classic meeting at his home track in a positive frame of mind.
"Things are going pretty well and I've been getting a couple of winners," he said.
"I just need to keep ticking along and use my claim as best I can."
The main event on Sunday, the Billy Soo Memorial Blayney Cup (2000m), was won by Scarlet Babe.
Scarlet Babe won the earlier Red Ochre Mares Classic Final at Dubbo in May, before the event was given a new date, and won on Sunday with Jason Hewitt driving for father and trainer, Bernie.
Scarlet Babe ($4.20) won the feature from Ziggy Rocks ($8) and Sams Express ($10).