NSW Derby favorite Always Hot rounded off his preparation and provided the Emma Stewart stable with a two-state winning quartet when he led all the way in the Swift Signs Pace at Melton on Saturday night.
Ballot exempt after taking out the Simpson Sprint at Menangle last month, Always Hot played at home while his Derby rivals contested the three heats, which resulted in a clean sweep for Stewart camp as The Highlight Reel, Silver Pistol and Storms Collide all saluted.
Stewart will harness up six runners in next week’s $200,000 Group 1 feature after both I Am The Storm and Go Miki also qualified.
Bay Of Biscay completed the stable’s quadruplet when he led all the way in the Group 1 Chariots Of Fire.
Always Hot, the prohibitive $1.05 favorite, wasn’t extended as he dashed home his last 400 metres in 27.7 seconds while rating 1:55.9 for the 2240 metres.
“It feels like there is plenty more left (in the tank) to me, especially this time around as we haven’t seen him come off the track tired,” driver Greg Sugars said after the race.
“It’s a very exciting position to be in.”
Pre-barrier draw, Sugars is quietly confident the son of Always B Miki can make it eight wins from as many starts in the NSW Derby Final.
“Obviously Derbies are never easy to win no matter who you are, and they’ve run some great times in the heats up there tonight,” he said.
“There are going to be a lot of handy horses in it, but I wouldn’t swap my drive for any of them.”
The Stewart stable’s extraordinary depth of three-year-old talent was highlighted earlier in the night when Fox Dan ($1.25 fav) scored an impressive first-up win in the Centre State Printing Pace after siting parked in a mile rate of 1:54.5.
Another three-year-old, former New Zealand filly Samkerr ($1.35 fav), completed back-to-back wins when she led all the way in the Hip Pocket Castlemaine Pace.
The Narcissist ($1.12 fav) secured Stewart’s Melton four-peat when he chalked up his fifth consecutive win since joining the stable from Queensland last year.
