The recent revamp of the Victorian metropolitan trainers’ and drivers’ premierships continued unabated at Melton on Saturday night.
Courtesy of her 11 wins in the past three weeks, Emma Stewart has reeled in the Marg and Paddy Lee stable and charged away to a five-win lead in the trainers’ title.
Meanwhile, Pitt is fast closing the gap on James Herbertson (who drove one winner) in the drivers’ battle after piloting 10 winners in the same period.
Pitt now sits on 26 wins and only two astern of Herbertson on 28.
The pair’s recent supremacy at headquarters was never more evident than Saturday night when Stewart led in five winners while Pitt steered home four.
The Stewart-trained I Am The Storm ($.60) set the theme of the night in the opening event when he worked to the lead with a lap to travel and held off My Uncle Stan and Dance Affair in a mile rate of 1:52.3.
Pitt produced one of the drives of the night on the Stewart-prepared Fairplay, who proved far too strong for his rivals in the Logical Staffing Solutions Pace.
Fairplay was initially crossed at the start by Soho Darknstormy, however Pitt was quick to wrest the lead back which relegated his main danger Hoorah Philtra to three horses back along the pegs.
Fairplay ($1.50 fav) careered away in the home straight to score by 10 metres from the fast-finishing Hoorah Philtra in a slick mile rate of 1:51.9.
Pitt admitted the take two at the start was the race decider.
“It looked like Soho Darknstormy was going to get across pretty easy and it was always in the back of my mind to keep Hoorah Philtra off my back, and it played out that way and that was probably the winning move at the start,” Pitt said.
Pitt said the four-year-old has been on his best behaviour in his three wins back from a long spell.
“Each time he has stepped out he has got better and better, and manners are a big thing with this guy and he has brought them each time,” he said.
Despite stepping out in open class for the first time, the Stewart-trained mare The Art Of Success continued on her winning way when she led from start to finish in the Hertz Melton Free For All.
Sent out the $1.90 favourite on the back of her previous seven consecutive wins, The Art Of Success threw a 26.5 last 400 metres at her rivals while cruising to the line holding a three-metre margin over stablemate Sir Jimmy.
The legacy of the daughter of Art Major’s picket fence formline is that she has catapulted into open class ranks successfully in little more than three months since winning her first race at Melton in late April.
“It’s a huge effort by her. I remember driving her in a NR 55 race Mildura not that long ago and she has come along in leaps and bounds from then,” Pitt said.
The Last Trip provided one of the highlights of the night when he made a one act affair of the Graduation Series Pace Final while giving driver Taylor Ford her first win on a Saturday night at Melton.
Ford allowed The Last Trip to stride along at the head of affairs and the son of Poster Boy opened up a large gap on his rivals down the back straight. On the line, The Last Trip’s ($1.07) official margin was 48.6 metres ahead of the runner-up Don Crunch in a mile rate of 1:51.8.
The former Tasmanian horsewoman was delighted as she returned after the race.
“I’ve been here nearly five years so it really means a lot to me,” Ford said.
“He put in a few rough ones out of the gate, so I had to hold him together for a bit but once he balanced up, he did it on his own really.”
Lightly-raced three-year-old Star Vision completed the quintet of wins for Stewart and quartet of victories for Pitt when he got the verdict in a photo finish in the final event.
A son of multiple Group 3-winning mare Starburst Girl, Star Vision ($1.15 fav) worked to the lead with 1600 metres to travel and held off stablemate Mount Barker Boy by a short-half head on the line.
