A stunning hour of power for trainer Emma Stewart smashed two long-held Mildura records and captured a very special title for reinswoman Jodi Quinlan, who steered Phoenix Prince to the Tasco Petroleum Mildura Pacing Cup.
The headline win lowered the 2600-metre mark previously held by Im The Boss by 0.4 seconds, just one race after another Stewart runner, Cant Top This, broke Major Crocker’s 2190-metre record that had stood since 2016.
Both were eye-catching performances, but it was the Cup they all came for, particularly Quinlan, with the $60,000 Group 2 her only race for the night.
“Emma and Clayton have been really good to me and this horse is quite special,” Quinlan told TrotsVision.
“They put me on him one of my very first drives back from injury. They took the risk, I hadn’t driven for 12 months and they gave me a drive in a Cranbourne Cup on him and I was just lucky enough that he won.
“So I’ve been able to get back on him since, had a bit of luck on him and he’s been going great.”
And Quinlan was ready to fight to keep the drive on the talented eight-year-old.
“Clayton rang me when the heats were on and said (Mildura’s) ‘a long way for you to go’. He said ‘Mark (Pitt’s) going to go up, is it all right if he drives (Phoenix Prince)’?
“I said, ‘yeah that’s fine, as long as I get to drive him in the final, otherwise I’ll drive the five and a half hours so I don’t lose the drive’. But he said, ‘no, it’s your drive in the final’, so he’s true to his word and that’s why I’m here tonight.”
It again proved a winning combination in an eventful final, with Mailman initially holding all at bay off the gate to lead, but it was the back row that brought the drama.
Scott Ewen worked forward on Bulletproof Boy and briefly appeared to tangle with Boots Electric, which saw the latter break stride.
Bulletproof Boy then advanced to the front and, once they settled, Quinlan took off on Phoenix Prince to assume the lead, with stablemate and fellow heat winner Our Millionaire settling on her outside and Bulletproof Boy on her back.
They maintained even quarters and then opened up for the run to the line, with Phoenix Prince in a class of his own amid a 56.9-second last half, winning by 12 metres from Our Millionaire with Bulletproof Boy finishing third and Boots Electric recovering well to complete the top four.
The win was Phoenix Prince’s second in the week, following on from his heat victory, which was his first victory since the 2020 Shepparton Gold Cup that preceded a long injury lay-off.
“He’s a super old horse,” Quinlan said. “Hats off to Emma and Clayton, he’s had more injuries than me and he’s come back better than ever or as good as he’s ever been.
“When he’s right he can sprint, he can do it a bit tough and he’s fast out of the gate, he can do everything.
“Clayton and Emma have looked after him. He’s always drawn out the back and he really deserved to win a cup, because a couple of his cup runs were fantastic.”
AS has often been the case of late the Stewart stable was able to make a big impression despite sending a modest sized team to the north-west, with Cant Top This outstanding in claiming the Mallee Bearings Free For All.
There was plenty of pace in a 40.5-second lead time and while there was something of a let up in the first quarter reinsman Mark Pitt reeled off a series of sub-29-second quarters in the run home to leave the chasing group breathless.
“I think he’s a pretty strong horse,” he told TrotsVision. “It’s probably really unheard of running those times.
“I think this horse is a really strong horse, I knew I had the horse under me, it was just whether the backmarkers could get into it or not and they couldn’t tonight.”
ANOTHER horse headed for a big stage is Alex Ashwood’s Accelere, who was outstanding in winning the coveted Tenderprint Australia Cup Final.
The race favourite broke the challengers’ hearts in the third quarter, covering it in 27.5 seconds and cruising to a 12-metre win over second-placed Malibu Jack.
“He’s a nice horse going forward,” Ashwood told TrotsVision. “He was doing it in second gear too, he probably would have run 27.4 again if I shook him up at the 400. He’s just got a big motor and he’ll just run speed really easy.
“Just can’t wait to get him over the short and at Melton, he will probably go 50, 51 (seconds over the last half) and catch me if you can.”
A BURST from the gates and bold front-running captured a prized trophy for Nathan Jack and the team behind Pas Guarantee, who claimed the Tankard Dental Mildura Guineas.
Owner-breeder Sue-Ellen Thompson paired mare Dieing Secret with stallion Guaranteed and then put the gelding in the hands of trainer Mark Thompson and Pas Guarantee preceded to win three of his 14 starts heading into tonight, including a seventh in his Vicbred Super Series final.
While Relentless Me dominated tonight’s betting, starting a $1.30 favourite, Pas Guarantee dominated the race with Nathan Jack shooting the three-year-old to the front from the gate.
From there he was able to dictate terms, turning in a modest 32.8-second first quarter and then upping the tempo when Relentess Me’s reinsman Jack Laugher made his move.
The leader had all the answers, creating a gap and holding on to score by four metres, with Victory George running into third ahead of Relentless Me.
“He had a good trip early, it wasn’t the plan to come out of the gate like that, but he just warmed up pretty strong, felt good in the score up so we threw caution to the wind,” Jack told TrotsVision.
THERE were also plenty of winning moments for the locals.
Trainer Andrew Vozlic teamed with Michelle Phillips to kick the night off with a victory with Have A Crack, who emerged from leader’s back and fought past Loyola Rocknrolla to win the Park Douglas Printing Pace Final at generous odds.
Twenty-three-year-old local trainer Lachlan Prothero also enjoyed a Cup night win, with Goodtime Maddie putting in an impressive front-running performance in Neil McCallum’s hands in the Euston Club Pace Final.
And Frank Cavallaro also left with silverware, with his five-year-old mare Deakin Avenue winning the McDonalds Mildura & Irymple Pace, giving regular visitor Ashwood a driving double for the night.
TrotsVision featured some terrific profiles of Mildura trainers Kate Attard and Ian Campbell. Enjoy:
