Jason Lee drives Presidentialsecret to victory in the Machra Melton Pacing Cup.
The dynamite Smythes Creek stable has reeled off a stunning night to record five metropolitan wins for the third time in seven metro meetings.
Gumdrops produced another thrilling run down the outside to clinch the Group 3 Angelique Club Cup and in doing so capped Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin’s third quintet, a rare feat achieved only once each by Peter Manning (2000) and Andy Gath (2008) since the turn of the century.
“The (stable) have been terrific,” said Jason Lee, who drove Presidentialsecret to victory in the Machra Melton Pacing Cup. “They have given me a couple to drive and left me on them, and I’m very grateful and appreciative. You are always going to get a lovely turned out horse that’s ready to go when you drive for them and it makes our job much easier.”
ANOTHER STAR IS BORN IN GARY QUINLAN'S STABLE
The winning platform was set early with Gavin Lang guiding Stewart's Brighty Valentine to a 3.7m victory in the first, the DNR Logistics Vicbred Pace. “There was a bit of heat there early, which was on paper the way it was going to unfold,” Lang said. “(We) got it pretty good through the middle section of the race and allowed her to kick home fairly strong.”
The good times continued for the stable in race two when in-form driver Mark Pitt piloted another talented four-year-old mare, Starburst Girl, to victory in the Join The Pegasus Club Pace. It was a third straight win for the Art Major mare since she returned from a spell.
“She’s come back in devastating form, it’s a credit to the team to get them where they are,” Pitt said. “It was run to suit for a backmarker tonight and it proved suitable for her. I’m sure (Vicbred) is their aim (from here), but just to get through week after week is really good.”
The next Stewart success came in race five, when Lee won by a half-head with Presidential Secret. “He’s been an absolute legend this horse for me,” he said. “The connections (owners The Devils Group) have always thought he had the ability and he has just sort of kept improving. All the big guns couldn’t do the work, and fair enough – we were really running, and it was a real credit to him to keep going and whack on.”
And then the good times rolled on in race six with Heavens Trend, the highly-fancied Victoria Oaks runner-up who started the Harness Breeders Victoria Argent 3YO Classic a $1.60 favourite and raced accordingly for driver Gavin Lang.
From barrier six Lang had to be patient, easing Heavens Trend to the front first time down the back straight. From there she had too much in the straight, winning by 2.9m from stablemate Platinum Power, while Stewart’s other runner – Whirily School – ran fourth. Im Wrongly Accused was third for Matt Craven.
Magical win number five then rested on driver Mark Pitt and Gumdrops in the Angelique Club Cup, and the mighty eight-year-old mare didn’t let them down with a thrilling win in a briskly run 2240m. Despite a 42.3 lead time and little let up from there, swooper Gumdrops needed all the main straight to pip Beach Shack and Nike Franco at the line.
“It was great,” Pitt said. “They were really burning early, which helped us. (Gumdrops) proved how good she’s going. It’s a credit to the team to get her to where she is today, it’s a big effort.”
And if the night could be any more remarkable, the Stewart camp also produced a double at Globe Derby, where Rocknroll Magic and Our Celebrity won the third and fourth races on the card,
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