Our Step Up’s climb towards calculation in the Mares Triple Crown took another stride in the right direction courtesy of a fourth victory in five Victorian starts.
The Art Major mare was in a class of her own in Saturday night’s TAB Multiplier Pace, further rewarding the move to send her across the Tasman by her trainer Stephen Telfer and owner-breeders Stonewall Stud, who are both based in Clevedon, south of Auckland.
A winner of eight of her 54 starts before arriving in March, Our Step Up is familiar to Victorian trots fans for her fourth placing in last year’s Empire Stallions Vicbred Super Series four-year-old mares’ final, a reputation she has significantly built on in her return visit.
Since winning the Group 3 Allied Express Jodie’s Babe at Melton on March 23 she followed a second to Pistol Abbey at Melton with victories in the Tenderprint Australia Cup heat and final at Mildura before making it three-in-a-row on Saturday for reinsman John Caldow.
“The form line’s there, her Mildura runs were just exceptional,” Caldow told TrotsVision after her latest win. “She just felt terrific tonight. She just did what she had to do and found the line good. She normally gets a bit lazy at the end if no-one’s about but she was pretty on-song tonight.”
The challenges will keep coming with Our Step Up, who is the second triple-figure stakes winner out of Dance Card, returning to open class with this Saturday night’s The Make Mine Cullen at Tabcorp Park Melton, the first of the Triple Mares Crown that continues with the Angelique Club Pace on May 11 and $100,000 Benstud Queen Of The Pacific on May 18.
They will be her Victorian grand finals, Caldow said.
“She’s got the mares racing coming up,” he said. “She will hang around for them and then go home.”
HEAR FROM SATURDAY NIGHT’S WINNING DRIVERS WITH THIS WEEK’S ALL CLEAR:
