Gavin Lang drives Emma Stewart's Ideal For Real to victory ahead of Menin Gate.
Gavin Lang’s got some tough but welcome decisions to make and Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin are going to have their hands full for all the right reasons.
Another standout night for the Smythes Creek stable in the last of the Empire Stallions Vicbred Super Series pacing heats has given them 21 nominees in the June 24 semi-finals at Tabcorp Park Melton.
“Emma and Clayton’s team is going exceptionally well,” said Lang, who drove four winners on Friday night, three of which were for Stewart's stable. “They are going to have a busy night (at semi-finals)."
Their nominees include three two-year-old fillies (Our Celebrity, Perfect Sense and Seaside Beauty) and four two-year-old colts and geldings (Classic Maker, Form Analyst, Our Little General and Solid As A Rock).
Add in four three-year-old fillies (Celebrity Guest, Platinum Power, Rocknroll Magic and Whirily School) and two three-year-old colts and geldings (Glacier Heights and Mercurian).
And then Friday night, five four-year-old mares (Brighty Valentine, Lovelist, Delight Me, Stay and Play and Starburst Girl) and three four-year-old entires and geldings (Solarsonic, Ideal For Real and Fundamentalist) qualified.
And it’s not just quantity but quality, having won seven heats, including three in a row at Shepparton on Saturday night, all in the hands of reinsman Lang.
“They don’t come to the trots a lot Clayton and Emma because generally the horses have left for the races before they have finished with the rest of the team," Lang said. "They are very devoted. I take my hat off to them.”
As for Lang and whose reins he will hold next Friday? “There’s a few days to transpire between now and (the semi-finals) and, as you know with horses, anything can happen.”
Among the other trainers who appear like they will much on the line when semi-final night arrives are David Aiken (seven qualifiers), Gary Quinlan (six), Marg Lee (six) and Michael Stanley (six), while Ruth Shinn has five qualifiers.
Plenty of other stables will be represented with genuine hopes, including in the entires and geldings, where at Shepparton the four heats were won by four different trainers.
The first went the way of Lee Evison’s Longwarry stable, when in Lang's hands Mister Wickham (Julius Caesar/Bronte Jones) led and put a gap on the field, including Alan Tubbs’ short-priced favourite Tee Cee Bee Macray. Greg Sugars drove Tee Cee Bee Macray to the line but was unable to run down Mister Wickham, who won by 2.7m in a 1:56.6 mile rate.
“Lee does (a fantastic job),” Lang said post-race. “The four-year-old section, they are our preeminent grand circuit horses going forward. The grade is a pretty tough level.”
Runners of class featured in the second entires and gelding heat, when Ideal For Real (American Ideal/Tamara Hall) ran down Menin Gate (Somebeachsomewhere/Dreams Of Heaven) to win for Stewart and Lang in a 1:58.0 mile rate.
Jodi Quinlan drove Lucky Lombo to victory in the third entires and geldings heat for a rapt group of owners. Stopping the clock in a 1:56.4 mile rate, the quickest of the night’s heats, Lucky Lombo (Major In Art/Isabella Lombo) benefitted from the leaders' early pace to swoop and win for trainer Graham McDermott.
“As soon as he hit the track tonight he really travelled well and felt a different horse and he went as good as he can,” Quinlan said. “Graham does a super job with his team, he really looks after them well. He is a really good fella to drive for.”
Joining them in the winners’ circle was Soynwasabi, who won the final heat for trainer Clayton Harmey and driver Chris Alford. The gelding, by Village Jasper out of Riverside Oakes, shot from the gate and led all the way to win in a 1:58.2 mile rate.
While plenty of names featured among the winners of the entires and geldings, the mares was largely the Stewart show.
In Lang’s hands, Lovelist (Always A Virgin\Lifeline) won the second heat in a 1:59.6 mile rate after finding the lead in the middle stages and winning by 3m, and then Delight Me (Bettors Delight/Cornsilk) won the third heat in a 1:57.4 mile, having pipped stablemate Stay And Play by 3m.
But the Stewart sweep didn’t occur, with $1.40 favourite Starburst Girl finishing fourth, 3.5m behind winner Vapar Grin. Trained by Ashleigh Herbertson and driven by Josh Duggan, Vapar Grin (Grinfromeartoear/Armbro Affair) won in a 1:57.9 mile.
“She’s had a few little problems this time in, but Ashleigh has done a great job with her,” Duggan said. “I haven’t been driving her that long, but the time I have been driving her she has been going good and I can’t thank Ash and the owners enough.”
The other mares heat was won by $4.40 chance Snip Of Grand, who beat Stewart’s favourite Brighty Valentine by a half-neck to the delight of trainer Alex Douglas and driver Adrian Douglas. The mare by Art Colony out of Current Raider won in a 1:56.8 mile.
“It’s good to get one up every once in a while,” Adrian Douglas said. “We’ve always liked her, always thought a bit of her, we will just keep doing our best and see how we go.”
Three other races featured on Shepparton’s 11-race card, with Littlebadgirl winning the Neatline Homes Pace, Art Of Locksley the Shepparton Club Pace and Annies Life the Trotters Handicap.
While the pacers look towards the June 24 semi-finals, the trotters take their turn in the Empire Stallions Vicbred Super Series limelight from Tuesday night, when the two-year-olds will race at Ballarat.
The three-year-olds then step out at Bendigo on Wednesday night, and then on Thursday it’s the four-year-olds turn at Maryborough.
Media enquiries:
Michael Howard (HRV Media/Communications Co-Ordinator)
t: 03 8378 0286 | e: mhoward@hrv.org.au | tw: @MichaelRHoward
