Multiple Group 1 winner Act Now showed he will still be a force at the elite level with a last-to-first win at Melton on Saturday night.
Sent out a $2.80 favorite, Act Now settled towards the rear of field and was still last around the final turn before Jodi Quinlan pulled to the outside and the lightly-raced six-year-old produced a powerful finale to score by half a neck from Bulletproof Boy in a mile rate of 1:52.6.
The win was the Emma Stewart-trained pacer’s first since causing an upset in the Victoria Cup in October as an $81 chance.
“It’s a very satisfying win as this horse had been through a lot,” Quinlan said.
“Kudos to Emma and Clayton (Tonkin) as his heart fibrillated last start and they have been able to turn him around and get him back – tonight he just felt like a different horse warming up behind the gate.”
Quinlan said she was confident Act Now could reel in the leaders despite giving them a tidy start on straightening.
“He was the class horse of the field,” she said.
“He came back to me really well out of the gate and I was happy to follow up Ellen (Tormey) when she went, and I thought he was still close enough on the corner if he let down like he could.”
Quinlan believes the son of Somebeachsomewhere can still play a key role on the Grand Circuit.
“There are still a lot of good races for him to win if he is back like the Miracle Mile and races like that – I’d love to see him in a Miracle Mile,” she said.
Act Now spoiled the party for a couple of pacing warriors in Bulletproof Boy and Triple Eight, who were having their 200th and 150th starts respectively.
Later in the night, Group 1 winning three-year-old Stormryder served notice he will make the transition to open class ranks with an authoritative win in the Gordon Rothacker Memorial Championship Final.
An easy all-the-way winner in his heat, Stormryder ($1.08 fav) repeated the effort in the final with a slick 53.9 last 800 metres to score by nine metres from Dee Roe and Rockandance.
Driver Mark Pitt conceded the favorable barrier (two) made it a difficult task for his rivals.
“As we all know with barrier draws, it’s hard when you have a nice one in front that you have to run down,” Pitt said.
“I had to control it without going over the top. I knew that Dee Roe is pretty fast, but it probably took a little bit of the sting out of him striding up down the back which helped us.”
Emerging former New Zealander Harold Smith completed a treble for the Stewart stable when he opened his winning account in Australia by outclassing rivals in the IRT Tornado Valley Trot.
A beaten odds-on favorite a fortnight ago at Melton, Harold Smith trotted faultlessly while sitting parked outside El Resamo before Pitt released the reins at the 400 metre mark and the son of Andover Hali quickly put the race beyond doubt.
Pitt believes Harold Smith will win better races in the coming months.
“I was confident in the run and had to control it and make it a strong last half, and I thought if I did that then I would be really hard to beat,” Pitt said.
“It’s going to be one of those things, this is going to be a stepping-stone for him but in 12 months’ time he’ll be up with the free-for-allers for sure.”
