The relentless front-running display from Arden Voyager highlighted a stunning Saturday for reinswoman Kate Gath, who snared six winners across the double-header of meetings at Victorian harness racing headquarters.

Prepared by Gath's trainer-husband Andy at their Long Forest base, the former New Zealand pacer produced a brilliant all-the-way victory in the TAB Long May We Play Pace (2240m, NR 79-89).

He ran quarters of 29, 28.9, 28.1 and 28.8 seconds and recorded a of 1:55:2 mile rate on a wet Tabcorp Park Melton track. It was a breathtaking performance from the four-year-old, who has now won three of his past four starts at the circuit.

Gath could hardly believe her horse was able to fight off all challengers after working so hard during the early stages of the race.

"I haven't had one pull that hard for a while and I just thought in the run that he is pulling himself into the ground," she told Trots Vision. "I was really concerned, but I didn't know he could do that.

"It was a really good field and he just shouldn't have been able to hold on against those sort of horses."

Gath said the stable had really liked the son of Somebeachsomewhere when he was purchased as a three-year-old from overseas, but he had gone "off the boil" for a period of time until recapturing his best over the past couple of months.

"Obviously now his last three or four runs he's finally showing us what we knew was always there," she said.

Arden Voyager's success was one of four for Gath on the Melton night program and followed a double from the morning meeting.

Gath's heroics in the sulky came soon after a four-peat at Ballarat last Tuesday night and included the successful return of Group 1-winning trotter McLovin - who took out the Alderbaran Park Trot (2240m, NR 70-120) - and was another of Andy Gath's four winners for the day.

An effortless triumph from Emma Stewart's star pacer Poster Boy was among the highlights on Saturday, as was the big victory by promising Jess Tubbs-trained trotter Overandout.

Driver Greg Sugars was almost sent crashing through the outside fence when the four-year-old squargaiter veered abruptly over the concluding stages of the Beraldo Coffee Trot (1720m, 4YO and older) but still managed to prevail by close to 30m.

Sugars said he thought the horse had taken exception to something flashing on the semaphore board located on the inside of the track near the winning post.

"He is a keen watcher of Trots Vision when he is at home not racing and I think he just wanted to head over to here to where we are now to talk to you Rob," Sugars joked with host Rob Auber during a post-race interview.

 


 

 

First-Starter Form

Your guide to today’s trots debutants

Bendigo tonight

Race 1: CPO Cafe Carisbrook 3YO Pace

N8 Thump (3YO Village Jolt gelding out of Umi; trainer Paul Watson, driver Jordan Leedham):

First foal out of five-time winning It Is I mare.

Race 4: Schweppes Trot

N5 Flick It (4YO Fling It mare out of Sli Trix, trainer Bill White, driver Ian White)

Six-time winning Sundon mare's Great Great Granddam is Maori Miss, a dominant line in Victorian trotting.