Tim O'Connor
The time-honoured Miracle Mile was revealed as one of Ladies In Red’s big major targets after her dominant victory in Saturday night’s Benstud Standardbreds Queen Of The Pacific (2760m).
The Emma Stewart-trained superstar added a sixth Group 1 success to her resume by triumphing in the third and final leg of the Elizabeth Clarke Mares Triple Crown at Melton.
The result took the mighty mare’s career record to 21 wins from 26 starts and lifted her prizemoney earnings up over $860,000.
Most had New South Wales visitor Braeview Kelly finding the lead from barrier five and that’s how it panned out, but few would have expected Stewart-trained Tough Tilly to land a place in behind her on the pegs from barrier six.
When this happened, David Moran decided to roll forward from the back row with Ladies In Red, and was allowed to glide to the front by Braeview Kelly’s driver Anthony Butt.
And from there, the race was in the daughter of Mach Three’s keeping. She controlled the speed from the lead before ripping home in slashing final sections of 27.7sec and 27.8sec to score a convincing 4.4m victory over Tough Tilly.
Speaking post-race, Stewart said owners Bill and Anne Anderson had shown interest in sending Ladies In Red towards the $1million sprint at Menangle in March next year.
“I know Bill and Anne are quite keen to have a crack at the Miracle Mile, so that’s probably our main target,” Stewart said.
“She’ll just keep trialling and we might pick a race here and there, but it’s really exciting to have her going forward to the Miracle Mile.”
Stewart said she was “very proud” of Ladies In Red, who has been forced to do it tough in many of her recent starts due to second row draws.
“She hasn’t been able to find the front in any of her races lately, so it’s been awfully hard for her,” Stewart said.
“When she found the front, she was always going to be hard to beat.
“Her work this week had been super and she was feeling pretty good before the race.”
Ladies In Red also secured a $10,000 bonus for connections with her overall win in the Elizabeth Clarke Mares Triple Crown series. She topped the leaderboard after a second placing in The Make Mine Cullen (October 8), and with her victories in the Angelique Club Pace (October 21) and Queen Of The Pacific.
Saturday night was a huge one for Stewart and her team, which prepared Hector, Khafaji, Techys Watching and Act Now – who claimed the Group 2 Catanach’s Jewellers 4YO and 5YO Championship – to prevail on the Tabcorp Park card.
And making the evening even better was Major Delight’s Group 1 triumph in the NSW Breeders Challenge 2YO Fillies Final at Menangle.
Mark Pitt made the trip interstate to drive the juvenile pacer, who made it six wins from six starts with a death seat success in the $150,000 feature.
