Emma Stewart looks to have one hand on the 2022 Tasco Petroleum Mildura Pacing Cup after two of her big stars produced dominant heat wins at the club’s historic 1500th meeting on Tuesday night.
Our Millionaire (pictured) crushed his rivals in the opening qualifier before stablemate Phoenix Prince returned to winning ways for the first time since early 2020 with a similarly easy front-running success later on the card.
Mark Pitt, fresh from a record-breaking nine winners at Launceston on Saturday night, drove both horses to victory and produced some brilliance at the controls of both. After drawing the inside of the back row with Our Millionaire, he quickly weaved a passage through and had taken the lead within just a few hundred metres. And from there it was a cakewalk, with the six-year-old zipping home in a sizzling last quarter of 26.2sec to record a mile rate of 2:01.8min over the 2600m trip.
“He’s a beautiful horse and the perfect little racehorse. He’s got speed, he’s got strength and he’s got it all,” Pitt said.
“He was just coasting. I never really let him go, just had a cheap run early and just let him run home under his own steam.”
In that post-race interview with Jason Bonnington, Pitt told TrotsVision viewers he might press the button on Phoenix Prince in the second heat in an attempt to find a somewhat unfamiliar role in the lead. And that’s exactly what happened, with the eight-year-old crossing rival and favourite Boots Electric upon release and then dictating terms out in front. He clocked final quarters of 27.9sec and 27.2sec for an overall mile rate of 1:59.2min on his way to an 8.1m triumph over Boots Electric, who chased gallantly for second.
“He is a nice horse, (but) I think I’ll stick with Our Millionaire this week (in the final),” declared Pitt.
With small fields in both heats, just one horse missed qualification for the $60,000 Mildura Pacing Cup Final on Saturday night. And that was Luke Watson-trained Caulonia Terror, who settled last in the battle with Our Millionaire and was unable to run past a rival in the straight. He will be emergency for the Group 3 feature.
Stewart is shooting for back-to-back wins in the race after preparing Mach Dan for victory last year.
The carnival rolls into Friday night where an 11-race card is highlighted by the Group 3 Aaron Bain Racing Mildura Trotters Cup before Saturday evening’s Mildura Pacing Cup meeting.
