The four points the Matt Clarke-trained five year old picked up for his fast-finishing win in the first country cup of the new year took his season's tally to eight points in Country Cup Championship events.

The son of Beach Towel also finished second in both the Nyah and St Arnaud Cups earlier in the season, picking up two points for each of those efforts.

That places the Great Western gelding equal third on the standings for the competition that runs through until the last of Victoria's 25 country cups at Mildura on April 18 and carries $2500 worth of prizes.

Points are allocated on a 4-2-1 basis to the first three home in most races, except for the final cup of each month when 8-4-2 points are up for grabs.

The leader 11 races into the 2008/09 championship is the Geoff Webster-trained Mister Swinger, who has taken advantage of that double-points bonus.

A win at Cranbourne in the final cup of November and a third placing at Kilmore in the final feature of October, combined with Nyah Cup victory earlier that month, has the star five-year-old on 14 points.

That affords him a two-point advantage over stablemate Genuine Star, who zoomed up the chart with victory in the Jim Phillips Memorial Arrow Training Services Cobram Cup on December 28. He also finished second in feature events at Stawell and Yarra Valley.

Sharing the third line with Count De Lira are Kilmore Cup champion Bold Cruiser and Manwarra Goforgold, who finished runner-up to Bold Cruiser at Kilmore and Mister Swinger at Cranbourne.

The winner of the trotting feature at Ararat, the Jamie Madruga-trained My Missindependent, now also shares third spot on the Melton Saddlery Maori's Idol Trophy Series leaderboard thanks to her win.

The four points she collected placed her alongside Lenny Lewis, Save A Sixpence, Eringa Belle and Skyvalley in the competition that carries $2000 worth of prizes.