Former New Zealand stayer Mandela landed a rare double when he came from near last to land Wednesday's Werribee Cup.He became only the sixth Geelong Cup winner to take out the Werribee feature, which was run at Geelong, and only the fourth in different years.Mandela was trained by Richard Yuill to win the 2006 Geelong Cup (2400m) when he raced up near the lead but his racing pattern has changed since joining Mike Moroney's Flemington stable earlier this year.Moroney said he picked out the Werrib

Former New Zealand stayer Mandela landed a rare double when he came from near last to land Wednesday's Werribee Cup.

He became only the sixth Geelong Cup winner to take out the Werribee feature, which was run at Geelong, and only the fourth in different years.

Mandela was trained by Richard Yuill to win the 2006 Geelong Cup (2400m) when he raced up near the lead but his racing pattern has changed since joining Mike Moroney's Flemington stable earlier this year.

Moroney said he picked out the Werribee Cup (2224m) for Mandela nearly two months ago when it became apparent the seven-year-old wasn't up to the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

In 2006 he finished ninth in the Melbourne Cup and last year was 11th in the Caulfield Cup.

"We decided not to continue on with a Melbourne Cup preparation as he looks like he doesn't quite get 3200 metres," Moroney said.

"We thought we would aim for something a bit lower and now he might run in the Queens Elizabeth Stakes at Flemington on the last day of the carnival."

As a three-year-old Mandela was a Group Two winner of the Avondale Guineas (2000m) and finished second to the Moroney-trained Xcellent in the New Zealand Derby but missed his four-year-old season with suspected poisoning.

He joined Moroney's stable when the equine influenza stranded him in Australia but he missed last autumn when a splint developed on his off foreleg.

Mandela has now won eight races but his only two wins since the Geelong Cup were Doomben's Group Three Chairman's Handicap in May 2007 year and New Zealand's Listed Evans Classic (1600m) in September last year.

"He has always been a high quality horse and he has got good form around good horses but he is probably just off the top ones," Moroney said.

He said Mandela was a hard pulling horse who trains himself on the track but at his last two starts he has relaxed back in the field with a cross-over noseband added to his gear.

Moroney said Mandela hinted he was ready to win again after his last start sixth in the Coongy Handicap (2000m) at Caulfield and the fast pace set by Taikorea suited him and jockey Mark Zahra.

"When they went so quickly I just put him to sleep," Zahra said.

"I got off their backs down the back, came out three wide then trucked up and just had to pick my way through them.

"At the 600 I was looking for something to get on back of but I was going better than anything and it was just a matter of getting the room.

"He got the gaps and because he is such a seasoned old stayer and been around the traps he was too tough and too strong."

Mandela scored by a length from the Peter Snowden-trained Imvula with Moe Cup winner Reggie coming from last to finish another 1-1/4 lengths away.

Saddler's Story needed to win on Wednesday and get a penalty to get in to the Melbourne Cup field but could only finish fourth.

With the Werribee track unsafe for racing the Werribee Cup was transferred for the first time to Geelong.

The George Hanlon-trained Gnapur was the first horse to win the Geelong and Werribee Cups in different years in 1969 and 1971 respectively, while Blank Music won the 1949 Geelong Cup and 1950 Werribee Cup, and Anan Louise the 1925 Werribee Cup and 1928 Geelong Cup.

Grass Valley (1994) and Paratone (1959) both won the Geelong-Werribee Cup double in the same year.