Rocknroll Icon’s record-breaking Ballarat win has perhaps delivered the pièce de résistance to a stunning Empire Stallions Vicbred Super Series heats for Emma Stewart’s stable.
This Friday night at Tabcorp Park Melton 72 horses will contest the semi-final phase of this year’s Vicbred Super Series for age-restricted pacers. No fewer than 29 of those pacers will be trained by Stewart.
Over the past seven days, since the first Super Series qualifiers were staged at Lords Raceway, Bendigo, pundits have been debating where Stewart’s dominance rates in the annals of history.
In recent years there have been a series of outlandishly powerful trainers in their respective jurisdictions.
Gary Hall Snr has owned Perth for an age, John and Luke McCarthy have dominated at different junctures as has Shane Tritton and further back we have names like Knight and Manning.
Perhaps above them all these days is Mark Purdon, who seems to run major race programmes in New Zealand then steal whichever Aussie features that tend to take his fancy.
Despite all that there is something bigger and even more all-encompassing about the Stewart suffocation.
Everything seems oversized.
Their team is enormous their horses are often leviathan and their ambition is out of control.
Which is why you wouldn’t rule out the concept of them winning perhaps 10 of 12 semi-finals this weekend and at least four Vicbred finals eight days after that.
Perhaps most dangerous for their rivals over the next 11 days is the fact that they have multi-pronged attacks on most, if not all, Super Series divisions.
In the two year old colts and geldings division pre-series popular elect Centenario is being challenged by his last start conqueror Hurricane Harley.
Little separates Kualoa and Two Time Bettor in the two-year-old fillies.
In the three-year-old colts and geldings there would be an even split of supporters for Poster Boy and Ride High, while Nostra Villa would only narrowly edge Speak No Evil in the three-year-old fillies.
Finally there is the four-year-old group.
There things are a little clearer cut with Tell Me Tales the dominant Stewart horse against co-favourite Carlas Pixel in the mares category and Rocknroll Icon Stewart’s flagship runner against Jilliby Kung Fu in the entires and geldings category.
Twelve Vicbred semi-finals will be held Friday night, with finals’ barrier draws to be staged on the night in the Legends Bar at Tabcorp Park Melton. More details to come.
