Leigh Sutton raised his whip in triumph as Like A Wildfire crossed the line to give him a rare big-race success in the Charlton and District Community Bank 2021 Charlton Pacing Cup on Sunday.
The well-travelled Sutton, who is now back based in Shepparton after a long stint in New South Wales, joined forces with the Emma Stewart team, which trained the trifecta of the Group 3 $35,000 feature.
It was a memorable result for the 35-year-old reinsman, who drove the Stewart-trained outsider to tip out stablemates Fourbigmen and Somewhere Secret at in excess of $30 on the TAB.
Sutton had the back of Fourbigmen in the running line for much of the race, and then pulled his horse to the middle of the track in the straight to run over the top of his rivals.
Just over four metres covered the first five horses across the line, with early leader Im Anothermasterpiece and Majestic Cruiser fourth and fifth respectively.
"When Kate (Fourbigmen) moved and I followed her, I was just loaded. I pulled him to the outside and it was just a matter of letting him down then because he just felt the winner," Sutton said.
"They went hard off the back which suited him and there was a nice genuine tempo. He'll win better races."
It was a special win for Sutton, who has been a journeyman of sorts in recent years after recovering from a serious race fall at Ballarat that sidelined him for more than a year.
The late Gavin Lang was also front of mind after the triumph, with the great trainer-driver previously having Like A Wildfire in his stable. The son of Big Jim won six races for Lang after arriving from New Zealand and before heading to the Stewart camp, for which he has won a further six.
"I just hope I did Gav proud then driving one with the stick because it's generally not my style," Sutton said.
Fourbigmen's second placing has lifted him to the top of the Trots Country Cups Championship standings, one point clear of Wolf Stride and a further two ahead of Lochinvar Art and Malcolms Rhythm.
The winning run of Maori's Idol Trotting Championship leader Well Defined came to an end on Sunday, but not without an admirable performance in the North West Ag Services Charlton Trotters Cup.
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Kate Hargreaves' stable favourite galloped away from the mobile and lost significant ground in his bid for five-straight country cups, but made up good ground to finish third behind winner McLovin.
After missing his recent Terang Trotters Cup failure, Kate Gath was back in the sulky behind the classy squaregaiter and rated him to perfection out in front.
However, they had to survive a protest from the connections of runner-up Sparkling Success, with driver Jackie Barker and trainer John Meade lodging an objection against McLovin on the grounds of interference in the early part of the home straight.
Stewards dismissed the protest given they "could not be satisfied that the extent of any interference exceeded the margin of 1.5 metres at the finish".
McLovin's Group 3 success was amazingly the 28th of his career, with prizemoney now topping $430,000.
Sunday was also a huge day off the track, with the staging of the Charlton Punt Off.
A select crew of 10 teams each tipped in $1000 and bet $750 across races four to nine, with the day’s most successful tipster adding their winnings to a $2500 bonus prize pool.
The competition was won by Harness Racing Victoria's Nikkita Ross and Cody Winnell (pictured in centre), who were betting on behalf of the Charlton club, which receives about $4500 to help construct a walker at its new training centre.