By Jason Bonnington
OF ALL last weekend’s dozen Vicbred Super Series deciders, none had the hype or anticipation of the 4YO final for pacing entires and geldings.
More than a head-to-head contest, it was a magical match in three between the ‘Birchip Bull’ Menin Gate, the ‘Real Deal’ Ideal For Real’ and ‘The Freak’ Tee Cee Bee Macray.
Prior to the race all seemed destined for Grand Circuit competition next term.
After the event, winner Ideal For Real appears set not only for Grand Circuit racing but Grand Circuit glory.
Tee Cee Bee Macray is headed down the very same path.
And Menin Gate may struggle when tackling the absolute elite.
If anything was missing from the highlight race of Saturday night it was the brutal tempo many were hoping might test Ideal For Real and bring Tee Cee Bee Macray right into the race.
But the way Emma Stewart’s NSW Derby winner put Menin Gate to bed before the turn and easily resisted Alan Tubbs’s untapped star, you get the feeling Ideal For Real was going to win regardless.
After the race the little black horse’s elated owners, Brian and Bev Carey, spoke of their joy at claiming Vicbred success.
“When Clayton (Tonkin) and Emma (Stewart) told me two years ago this horse is a freak I obviously started to winder what be in store but you never expect all this,” Brian Carey said.
“They’ve given him time to develop, he’s had two big eight-month spell but the guys were on the money, they’re really, really good.
“It’s unbelievable; it’s something that you always wish for but when it happens you still pinch yourself and think, are we the ordinary people that come to the trots every week and end up with a super horse like this?,” Bev Carey added.
Emma Stewart also paid homage to a horse she rates every bit as highly as Safari or Guaranteed after the red-letter night.
“He (Ideal For Real) is a lovely horse and I think the second horse, Tee Cee Bee Macray, is a terrific horse too so we’ll be looking forward to some great clashes in the future.
“He’s a nervous sort of horse so we’ll make that step (to Grand Circuit races) pretty slowly and try to give him some easier options on his way through.”
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IN MANY ways it’s incredibly appropriate that pocket rocket Dont Hold Back is a son of Courage Under Fire.
Because trainer Mario Attard displayed a rare and underrated brand of courage in the week leading up to the Vicbred Super Series finals.
Having chosen to steer the 3YO he also owns at every run this prep, Attard made a difficult decision as his popular star approached a Group 1 final with up to seven winning hopes on Saturday night at Tabcorp Park.
He would make way for the incomparable Gavin Lang.
It’s impossible to know in hindsight whether Attard himself would have succeeded in mowing down Iceenothink to claim the $100,000 decider for classic-age colts and geldings.
But Lang certainly did and the celebrations were elite.
“It feels like we won the Grand Final here, everybody has just gone berserk,” Attard said soon after the Group 1 triumph.
“I was happy to give Gavin the drive tonight; this horse deserved a Group 1 and now he’s got it and everyone is happy.”
Following the win, even the normally unflappable Iceman, Gavin Lang, seemed genuinely relieved that their mission had succeeded.
“You get the luck sometimes and certainly we got that luck tonight and he’s just a super little horse this one,” Lang said.
“It’s such a privilege to drive this little horse for Mario (Attard) who was gracious enough to step aside for tonight’s big race.
“There’s a fair bit of pressure and expectation that comes with doing that so I’m just glad that it all turned out alright.”
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THE VICBRED Super Series has been invaded by all manner of interstate and overseas insurgents in recent years and this year it was a Newcastle-trained 2YO that hit his ultimate target.
Prior to Saturday night, NSW power-couple, Shane and Lauren Tritton, had never even aimed at a Vicbred Super Series title, let alone have a live hope of winning on their hands.
But after a super heat run and arrogant semi-final triumph, Tingira Beach was the short priced favourite to take out the juvenile colts and geldings division of the series on Saturday night.
As it turned out, he didn’t get things easy, first having to work hard in search of the lead, then needing to dig deep in order to resist the closing challenge of Our Little general.
But in the end the son of Somebeachsomewhere was just a bit too good.
“We’re extremely proud of him; he’s just a horse that’s learning all the time,” Tritton said.
“The owners have out a lot of money into the industry and bred horses for a very long time and I think this is their first Group 1 so they deserve this more than me.
“We’re just proud of him; he’s come a long way. A guy called Al Morris broke him in and from that point to now he’s just kept improving.
“It was also a great drive by Lauren and it’s great to get our first Vicbred success.”
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IT’S a familiar tale.
Powerful freshman filly competes well in first few starts over short course trips without establishing dominance as the best of her gender and vintage.
Then the trips get longer and the strongest filly thrives.
So it was for Michael Stanley-trained stayer-in-the-making, Petacular, who went from quality commodity to dominant filly of her generation on Saturday night at Melton.
Like so many of last weekend’s Group 1 winners, glory did not come easy for Petacular.
Not only did she draw the second row but she was forced to chase the horse he finished one place ahead of her in their APG decider, Perfect Sense, for what seemed an eternity through the final lap.
Ultimately, however, it was Petacular’s superior strength which allowed her to grind down Emma Stewart’s slightly more brilliant commodity in an epic battle up the Tabcorp Park straight.
After the race, managing part-owner, David Young, who also doubles as the Ballarat Harness Racing Club Chairman, spoke of his glee at snaring an emotional Group 1 triumph.
“Basically when I took over the role as Chairman I thought it was time to manage a syndicate so went out to Bruce Edward’s property and he steered us in the right direction.
“This horse has just gotten better and better with every run though, so to be here tonight and to win a Group 1 is certainly an awesome, awesome feeling.”
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FROM a media perspective she was the lowest profile of Emma Stewart’s three Saturday night Super Series champions, but for managing part-owner, Bruce Cameron, Rocknroll Magic was the star of the night.
Having narrowly lost a Super Series final many thought she should have won last season, the Rocknroll Magic-team had unfinished business on the first weekend of July, 2016.
Against them was a second line draw and a field replete with friendly fire from Whirily School and Celebrity Guest as well as the might of reformed rogue Nikkibadwagon.
But all that was not enough to stop the filly that finished second to Dream About me in a NSW Oaks qualifier earlier this term.
“It’s just great for that filly to win a Group 1 race; she’s been one of the best fillies as a two-year-old and a three-year-old, I think in Australia, so it was a well-deserved win,” Cameron said.
“It’s fantastic, we’ve got people that have come from Tasmania, Broken Hill, Adelaide an Melbourne and they’re all here having a great time so it’s all been worth it.
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THERE were no shortage of outstanding performances on Saturday night at Tabcorp Park Melton but none were as big as the one from Delight Me.
Despite being rated as a clear favourite in her Super Series final for 4YO mares, only the most faithful of her devotees would have considered here a serious winning chance after the first lap of Saturday night’s Group 1.
Having been three-wide for what seemed an eternity and then forced to race tough once she found the breeze, Emma Stewart’s lightly raced star looked to have expended too much petrol to win.
But in one of the great Vicbred Super Series performances of all time, she rallied in the lane for a memorable, almost unthinkable triumph.
“I was very worried early on, she had a torrid run but it just shows you how good she (Delight Me) is,” Stewart said.
With three wins to her credit for the weekend, Stewart also paid tribute to Victoria’s richest futurity brand.
“We’ve only really go two New Zealand horses so we love the Vicbred Super Series; it’s a time of year we enjoy.
“We had a heap if runners and a heap of owners this year so it’s just a terrific atmosphere.”
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WHILE night two of the Vicbred Super Series was dominated by the sport’s biggest Australian players, night one for the trotters, provided a greater spread of household names and hobby heroes.
Andy and Kate Gath provided some of the star material when Endsino claimed the Super Series decider for 4YO Trotting Mares in controversial but brilliant circumstances.
Having held the lead with Endsino almost every time she’d had the fortune to find it, Kate Gath decided on different tactics Friday night.
From their plum polemarking draw Gath and Endsino held up early, but ultimately conceded the lead to Aldebaran Deebee in an attempt to put their major danger, Sky Petite, three back on the poles.
Intriguingly, the move won Melton’s Drive of the Night but also cost Gath $500 in fines for not notifying a change of tactics in a Group 1 race.
Other heavy-hitters to taste success on Friday night were Anton Golino (Aldebaran Eve) and Greg Sugars (Aldebaran Eve and Cruisin Around) but overall it was a night for non-favourites and smaller names.
John Meade was one of those names and he was over the moon following Sparkling Success’s win in the VSS decider for 4YO) trotting entires and geldings.
“Unbelievable; early in the year I knew he was a good horse but I didn’t really think he was this good,” the veteran trainer said.
“Gavin (Lang, driver) liked him all the time, Gavin said he’s improved every run and he obviously went well enough tonight to win.
“It’s just a thrill; this win will mean something for us. It will do something for us. I’ll wake up in the morning and I won’t be tired.”
Another great story on the night was the win of Cruisin Around for underrated Cranbourne trainer, Michael Hughes.
Part owned by former leading Victorian form analyst and media personality, Bill ‘Hutchy’ Hutchison along with one-time Cranbourne harness Racing Club CEO David Scott and leviathan squaregaiting supporter Michael Taranto, Cruisin Around narrowly rolled arch nemesis, Sundons Courage.
“There’s always been a good ding-dong battle between those two (Cruisin Around and Sundons Courage) and it was nice to finally get one back on him this year,” Hughes said.
The biggest shock winner from the trotters’ night at Tabcorp Park was Betty Hall in the juvenile fillies division of the Super Series.
Trained and driven by industry legend, Brian Gath, Betty Hall paid $119 on the Victorian Tote and gave long-time owner Norm Visca his first ever Group 1 victory.
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WHILE almost all the major weekend action took place at Tabcorp Park over the weekend, Albion Park also hosted some quality races including the Mr Feelgood Pace, which was won by Ultimate Art.
With interstate and Kiwi invaders all ready to descend upon Queensland harness headquarters over the next fortnight, Ultimate Art confirmed his status as the host state’s leading hope in those feature events.
He also put himself in line for some super Picket Fence bonuses if he is able to sweep those two major races on July 9 and 16.
Other big winners in the Sunshine State on Saturday night were Major Cam in the 4YO Championship and former Kiwi commodity Smiling Armada in the Premiers Cup.
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