Scientifically speaking, there’s no evidence to suggest that horses have the faculties required to read social media commentary or consume marketing material of any kind.

Nevertheless, witnessing the deeds of megastar mare Ladies in Red on Friday night at Melton, one wonders whether equine athletes sense the expectations placed upon them, then compete in kind.

For those struggling with context, here’s an abbreviated outline of recent, emerging events.

With myriad major races and multiple feature carnivals quickly closing in, Harness Racing Victoria’s media and marketing magnates made the courageous and critical decision to hero Ladies In Red.

On the one hand, selecting Emma Stewart’s burgeoning superstar as an equine ambassador for the industry wasn’t what one would call wildly dangerous.

Indeed, by all superficial standards, she utterly fitted the bill.

Glamorously adorned in the pink and black colours of Bill and Anne Anderson, she was easily identifiable, even for those without a passionate interest in harness racing.

Female by gender, she engendered memories of Australia’s two most recent thoroughbred champs, Black Caviar and Winx.

Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?

Well, here’s the flipside.

Even as promotional pieces were being filmed and “activations” were being “activated”, the Andersons were totally transparent about the fact that Ladies In Red would exclusively target mares-only events for the foreseeable future.

That meant the most marketable - and marketed - standardbred in Victoria wouldn’t contest races like the recently-staged Victoria Cup or iconic series like the upcoming Inter Dominion.

At this juncture, the pressures rose, not for Ladies In Red herself – as mentioned, she isn’t on Twitter and rarely watches TV – but for those that have hitched their wagons to her success.

That pressure elevated once more, in leg one of the Elizabeth Clark Mares Triple Crown on Vic Cup night at Tabcorp Park when our reigning regent was beaten by stablemate Tough Tilly.

At that point, the sceptics, not those you respect but they who operate in the shadows, were quietly quipping about the credentials of Ladies In Red as HRV’s beacon when she couldn’t defeat “restricted” rivals.

So came Friday night, and with it, leg two of this Triple Crown, the Angelique Club Pace.

Let’s be clear here. Those with collegiate degrees about harness racing wouldn’t have pilloried Ladies In Red even if she’d suffered a second successive defeat.

Still, it’s almost as if that freakish four-year-old mare somehow comprehended she was under the malevolent microscope of those that live to hate, and felt a statement was required.

And what a statement it was.

Parked outside her brilliant stablemate, Treachery, for much of the 2240m journey, Ladies In Red reached for every comprehensible competitive reserve to snatch triumph in the shadows of the post.

Still there will be doubters.

Nevertheless, if we’ve learned anything about Ladies In Red over the last couple of years, she, unlike her haters, is a winner in life; and one that deserves her role as harness racing’s headline horse.

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.