Dashing Major's Waterlea double

Four-year-old gelding Dashing Major lived up to his name at the Marlborough Harness Racing Club’s summer meeting.

The Woodend Beach-trained pacer claimed a gritty victory in the Marlborough Cup Prelude at the Waterlea Raceway on Friday, then backed that up with victory in the Marlborough Cup, the feature race of the two-day meeting on Sunday.

A length behind the winner was Artatac, driven by Robbie Close, with Samantha Ottley’s drive, Plutonium Lady, third.

The meeting, the only one on the Marlborough racing calendar, was well-attended with good numbers on-course over both days.

The driving skills of a couple of the country’s top reinsmen, Blair Orange and John Dunn, were on full display across both days.

On Friday, the pair prevailed in eight of the 11 races, both claiming four victories. On Sunday, they each picked up another win, sharing the accolade of top driver for the meeting.