Cardigan Dan delivered a brilliant performance at Ballarat on Thursday night to claim the inaugural Durham Park 2YO Rising Star and secure a coveted place in next month’s $500,000 Protostar in Queensland.

Trained by Emma Stewart and expertly driven by Kate Gath, the promising youngster led the way for the stable, with their runners filling the top five placings in the $20,000 feature.

The new race was developed through a collaboration between Bruce and Vicki Edward of Durham Park and the Ballarat and District Trotting Club. The winner secured the Ballarat and District Trotting Club/Durham Park slot in the Protostar, one of the feature races of the Constellations Carnival, set for July 12.

Bruce Edward was full of praise for those involved in bringing the race to life.

“I’d like to congratulate the Ballarat and District Trotting Club for partnering with us on this event. It’s very exciting for everyone involved,” Edward said.

“Thank you very much, and well done to Clayton and well done to Danny (Team Zav – winning owners). It’s all very exciting!”

The win was particularly meaningful for Clayton Tonkin, who was thrilled to see the team’s juveniles dominate the placings with Cardigan Dan leading home Loucasso, Brooklyn Dan, Knight Fury Dan and Letsstartinheaven.

“This race has been a great incentive to get all our good juveniles here, and for the Ballarat Trotting Club to put it on is really exciting and great for the sport,” Tonkin said.

“It’s ultra special for us because Bruce, Vicki, and Durham Park have been great supporters of ours, so it’s one of those things that really means a lot.”

Tonkin was impressed by how strong the race was and the high quality of the competition on show.

“For them to put a race like this on is great for the industry. You saw the quality of the field tonight. It was a star-studded line-up,” he said.

Tonkin was also pleased with how Cardigan Dan performed in his return to the track.

“I was rapt with his run. He was first-up after a little break. He had a pretty tough run in the Nutrien Final, so we had to freshen him up. I was rapt with all my runners.”

Among those runners was Loucasso, who finished second and remains a leading contender for the stable’s own Tonkin/Stewart slot into the Protostar.

“Sitting in the death isn’t really his go, but he was gallant in defeat. Every run he has produced has been outstanding and he is a star juvenile,” Tonkin said.