There was only a hair splitting first place from their closest rival when they crossed the finishing line together, but trainer Damien Lane wasn't sweating in the lead-up to Sunday's Wellington Showcase Cup.
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The annual race, held alongside the Wellington Boot, saw Lane's unlikely winner Pirate Ben claim another title to add to the collection.
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"We did come here confident, he did a tendon and he had a long time off, so his last prep it took him a long time to come back from that, but just before that he took out the win at Warrick farm and yeah, we're just really, really happy," Lane told Sky Racing.
Pirate Ben, jockeyed by Jess Taylor, scraped just ahead of the Greg Ryan ridden, Clare Cunningham trained New Zealand import Travancore to secure the victory, well ahead of the presumptive favourite, Kim Waugh's White Boots, who finished in fifth.
"He's always been a really good horse for me and he's been great for my stable and my career," Lane said.
"He came up from Melbourne and I have to thank the connecting families, they bring me a lot of good horses, this horse has just won everywhere; he's won a Taree cup, he's won at Randwick, Canterbury, Warrick Farm and he's been a super horse for us."
"His run first up was okay, but he always improves second up and that was the plan, to come in second up, everything panned out well, Jess gave him the absolute perfect ride."
