On Saturday night at Menangle, the fog was so thick, it almost obscured one of the greatest milestones recorded in Australasian harness history.
Almost, but not quite.
When First Responder sliced through an inside gap before exploding with brilliant acceleration to comfortably claim the Nutrien Final for juvenile colts and geldings, something special had transpired.
Emma Stewart, staggeringly, had just become the first Australian trotting trainer to land 100 Group 1 successes in their own right.
When unpacking such an extraordinary achievement, knowing where to start is perhaps the hardest part.
First, there’s Stewart’s relatively tender age.
At just 40, this champion conditioner feels far too young for record-breaking milestones; yet breaking records is what she’s all about.
Then, there’s the fact that Stewart – as a woman – has fast-tracked gender equality for trainers in the same way Kerryn Manning smashed the glass ceiling for drivers some two decades prior.
She hasn’t been alone in that pursuit of course.
After all, Natalie Rasmussen is the only other Australian trainer with more than 100 Group 1 successes to her name, even if many of those triumphs have come in partnership with Mark Purdon.
It’s also true that Stewart’s partner, Clayton Tonkin, has been an irreplaceable part of her Ballarat operation since their first Group 1 winner, Manwarra Hatrick, way back in 2007.
Nevertheless, Saturday night was Stewart’s moment, and a landmark achievement in harness racing history.
For context, at age 40, Chris Waller had less than 40 Group 1 wins as a trainer to his name.
He now has 137.
The question now confronting Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin is whether they plan to maintain the maniacal productivity level they’ve set over the past 13 years, or whether they’ll soon rationalise their operation in the spirit of work/life balance.
If this pace continues, Stewart will likely set records which will not be broken, at least in our lifetimes or those of coming generations.
If they opt to slow things down, nothing will ever be the same.
One truth of what might be called the ‘Stewart Generation’ is that we have taken it for granted.
And we shouldn’t.
What we are living through may not be seen again.
Picture: Club Menangle
Exciting as harness racing’s young stars are, a couple were reminded about the perils of warring with older, battle-hardened warriors on Saturday night at Melton.
The fast class pace at Tabcorp Park was billed as a clash between burgeoning stars Rock N Roll Doo and Yambukian.
Sadly, Yambukian wasn’t at his best and finished down the track while Rock N Roll Doo went fabulously well but may have needed this run fresh just to top him off.
Regardless of excuses, however, both were rolled by wildly underrated veteran Bettor Be The Bomb.
And punters were reminded that experience, topflight experience, still counts for something in this world.
The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.