Photo by Stuart McCormick
CHAMPION Victorian trainer Emma Stewart has the quality and quantity to build on her own proud record and that of her home state in tomorrow (Saturday) night’s $200,000 Group 1 Chariots Of Fire at Menangle.
Victorians have won five of the past seven Chariots Of Fires, and Stewart and her training partner Clayton Tonkin have won the race twice with Guaranteed in 2014 and Poster Boy in 2019.
The powerhouse Ballarat stable is poised to dominate half the 10-horse field, including the three favourites, Bay Of Biscay ($1.90, gate four), Some American ($5, seven) and Miki To Success ($7, eight). They also have outsiders Stormryder ($23, 11) and Wat Dan Buddy ($26, 10).
Stewart and driver Cam Hart agree the market is right with Bay Of Biscay a clear favourite.
“He’s the best of ours, but there are an even bunch,” Stewart said. “Last season it tended to be whichever of our top ones drew the best would win and Bay Of Biscay has the best of the draws this week.”
Hart, who has won two races on Bay Of Biscay and finished second in the world’s richest harness race, the $2.1mil TAB Eureka, admits he “loves” the four-year-old.
“I fell in love with him the first time I drove him, which was winning a heat of the NSW Derby at Menangle this time last year,” he said.
“He’s a magnificent looking horse with a terrific mix of speed and strength.”
Hart qualified Bay Of Biscay for the Chariots with a dominant all-the-way win in the Group 3 Hondo Grattan Stakes at Menangle on February 15.
“I think it was in the strongest of the qualifiers, he ran a quick time and did it from the front,” he said.
“He also felt like he had more to give. Even though I drove him out to the line, I’m sure there was another gear there if something really came at him.
“The draw is perfect. I think I’ll work across those inside me at the start and find the lead. He’s definitely the hardest to beat after the draw.”
Hart is going for back-to-back Chariots wins having teamed with the Jason Grimson-trained Frankie Ferocious to win last year.
The strong Kiwi presence at this Carnival of Miracles will see Hall of Famer Barry Purdon chase a fifth Chariots Of Fire win with Better Knuckle Up.
Purdon, who trains in partnership with Scott Phelan, already holds the record with four wins in the feature. He won three of the first five – Gingerman (1995), Franco Hat Trick (1998) and Holmes DG (1999) – before Our Sky Major added another in 2015.
“It’s been too long,” Purdon laughed. “It’s great to be back and with a horse we think is good enough if things go his way.”
Originally published in the Daily Telegraph and reprinted with permission
PHOTO: Stuart McCormick
