Fast by name and fast by nature, Emma Stewart’s zippy entire by Always A Virgin landed the stable a second successive Mercury80 heat victory on Saturday night.
Always Fast powered his way into the January 25 final by blitzing his rivals at Tabcorp Park Melton.
Once again it was Jackie Barker in the sulky as the four-year-old set a new benchmark time of 82.8 seconds while landing his third-straight victory of the preparation.
Always Fast was never headed from barrier three and went quicker than stablemate Liftntorque, who clocked 83.4 seconds when winning the opening heat of the series.
“He certainly did feel strong to the line and even running down the back he was still full of running, so I think he’s a pretty nice horse,” Barker said.
“He took a little bit to wind up at the start and they all showed a fair bit of speed as well. He had to burn a little bit, but once he gets rolling he seems to keep rolling, so it suited him well.”
Kari Males-trained Gilty Hanover was well beaten in second, but also booked a place in the decider later this month.
The Mercury80 consists of four $20,000 heats and a $50,000 final and carries extra bonuses for the quickest winner and any horse that can break 80 seconds over the 1200m journey.
Further heats of the Mercury80 will be run on January 10 and 17 before the eight qualifiers progress to the Group 2 finale on January 25, the night of the Victoria Oaks and Victoria Derby.
Always Fast’s triumph was one of three on Saturday night for the Stewart stable, which also grabbed the feature of the evening, the Group 3 VHRC Metropolitan Pace Final (2240m, NR 70-79).
Our Millionaire stretched his winning sequence to six races with a front-running victory over stablemate Deedenuto, who produced a big effort in defeat. They were well clear of the third-placed The Crimson Prince.
“He knows how to get the job done. He actually likes to launch at about the 300m or 200m – he really wants to get rocking and he puts a space on them and then he’s too good,” driver Kate Gath said. “He’s a lovely little horse.”
Freddy Funk produced a tough victory in the Alabar Claiming Pace (2240m) to complete the final leg of the treble.
He came from back in the field for champion driver Chris Alford to wear down long-time leader Illawong Maestro and win by a half-neck on the line.
The seven-year-old has now won 18 career races for more than $100,000 in earnings.
A couple of the night’s other feature races bowled over the punters. Eastbro Jesse, for Rebecca East and Michael Bellman, won the VHRC Provincial Pace Final (2240m, 4YO+ NR 52-55) at in excess of $50, while Ann-Jeanette and Beau Tindale-trained All Starzzz Megan took out the VHRMA Graham Goffin Memorial (1720m, mares NR 70-99) at $27.40 for driver James Herbertson.
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