19 April 2022 | Courtesy of News Corp
RECORDS tumbled everywhere as trainer Emma Stewart and driver Mark Pitt dominated last night’s Group 1 Easter Cup meeting in Launceston like nobody in any racing code ever has before.
Victorian pair Stewart and Pitt combined in nine of the 10 races – they weren’t eligible to contest the other – and won them all, including the $100,000 Group 1 Easter Cup with former Tasmanian pacer Longfellow.
Stewart and her training partner, Clayton Tonkin, went a step further by finishing second in the Cup with Like A Wildfire.
Stewart and Tonkin had just 10 runners on the night for the best possible result, nine wins and a second to one of their own horses.
It was a record haul by a trainer in Australian history. Stewart and Shayne Cramp held the previous record with eight wins. Stewart’s eight wins came at Melton on June 29, 2018.
“We picked out the right horses and really thought we could win them, but it never turns out that way,” Stewart said.
“We were definitely anxious the day before. It was good Friday and we’re not religious, but Clayton said we’re not eating meat because we need everything to go right here.”
Go Dancing, Rock Artist, Runaway Celebrity, Soho Historia, Firerockfireroll and won before Stewart and Pitt snared the Cup quinella.
“The one we thought was most vulnerable was Von Art. We haven’t had her long and she can do things wrong, but when she won race eight we thought we’d get the clean sweep then,” Stewart said.
Beach Life then won race nine to give them eight winners before Captain Rival overcame a bad draw and plenty of traffic to dominate the last race.
“Captain Rival is a really nice horse. He was a good horse to come home with. I thought ‘Pitty’ (Mark Pitt) might have put him into the race earlier, but he knew what he was doing,” Stewart said.
“To think we planned it and it all came together for a perfect result is amazing.”
Pitt’s achievement was even more remarkable. To give context, no Australian driver in the history of the sport had driven more than six winners at a meeting previously.
Champions like Chris Alford, Kerryn Manning, Gary Hall Jr, Luke McCarthy and the late Gavin Lang were some who shared that previous record of six wins.
“Pitty was pretty much our stable driver before he had some time on the sidelines. When he came back Clayton (Tonkin) and I were very keen to use him,” Stewart said,
“Clayton has always loved his style, the fact he’s a lightweight and he’s so committed to what he does.”
· Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp.
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