It was the race that stopped Tilba as nine toy fox terriers tore down Bate Street for the Darcy Cup.
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Punters pored over their form guides at The Dromedary Hotel.
Should they go for Darcy Cup royalty like Sootie?
The seven-year old is the mother of the rest of the field.
Perhaps back a wild card like one-year old Charlie, an unknown quantity for most entrants, or Mystery Bay's Batman?
It was Batman's maiden start but it was not to be.
Batman was a late scratching (too noisy).
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Call for drug test
There was controversy before the dogs even made their way to the starting line and it all centred on two-year old Merv.
Merv had a few things going for him.
He lives just 342 metres from the starting line at the southern end of Bate Street.
Merv knows the track well because he has been trained to run to the pub where the finishing line was.
He came in as possibly the most well rested dog in the race.
Suspicious of recent 'unnatural' growth of two dogs - Patchy trained by none other than Darcy Hoyer, and another strong contender Brian - Merv filed an official request to drug test the field.
It was denied.
There is history between Brian and Merv.
Merv won the Cobargo Show Small Dog Race in 2022 but was pipped to the post by Brian in 2023.
Brian went into the Darcy Cup in red hot form and one of the favourites.
Photo finish
Excitement was fever pitch by the time the dogs were in their starting positions.
Millie, a 15-month old from Mallacoota, was chosen to be the 'rabbit'.
The youngster did a great job, making a beeline for the finishing line.
Spectators were promised a tight race and they certainly got one.
It took several minutes of examining the video footage before Brian was declared winner, with Merv excruciatingly close, followed by Neville.
A day of what if and if only for Merv's owner
Punter Bryan was almost as ecstatic as Brian's owner Jason Snell, because he had a side bet on Brian.
"He was running rings around the other dogs so my heart was with Merv but my brain went with Brian," Bryan said, walking away $20 richer.
Merv's owner Chris Weire was not so lucky with Merv losing the Darcy Cup to Brian by a whisker.
He also picked the Melbourne Cup winner Without a Fight but when he entered his bet, he missed out the zeros so only put $2 on the winner.
He went home with $16.20 of winnings.
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