For the second time in as many weeks Carson Millar took his entire stable to the races and returned home with a perfect strike rate after Test Of Fire and Pet Kitty both scored at Melton on Saturday night.
Jordan Leedham took off on Test Of Fire from midfield with 800 metres to travel and the five-year-old showed plenty of intestinal fortitude to stave off Anikan by two metres in a mile rate of 1:54.3.
Half an hour later Pet Kitty, with Leedham aboard, completed a memorable night for Millar when she led all the way in the Nutrien Equine Pace.
Sent out favourite on the strength of two wins from her past three starts, Pet Kitty bounded away in the home straight to score comfortably by eight metres from Fun To Love in a mile rate of 1:53.4.
Millar landed the first double of his career a fortnight ago at Geelong and promptly followed it up with his maiden Saturday night double at Melton.
The 36-year-old Millar, who drives trains for a living, only has the two horses in work.
“It’s a super feeling as I only do the two horses,” Millar said.
The nomadic Pet Kitty has been in no less than eight different stables in her career including a stint with Millar last year when she won five races in a row.
“She’s got a lot of quirks and she’s not easy to handle yet she’s never run a bad race for me to be honest,” he said.
“She’s tries her heart out and that’s all I can ask.”
Millar said his occupation as a train driver allows him the flexibility to prepare a small team at Meredith between Geelong and Ballarat.
“It’s shift work which involves early mornings and late nights and it fits in with me doing a hobby like this,” he said.
Meanwhile, Brisbane Lions premiership player Darcy Gardiner’s sporting success has continued in recent weeks with his pacer Code Bailey who completed back-to-back wins at Melton in the Hip Pocket Free For All.
Jason Lee was able to slot Code Bailey in behind the leader Oliver Dan and the rising 11-year-old produced a stout finale to grab the leader in the straight and score by two metres in a slick mile rate of 1:50.5.
Code Bailey is no stranger to running fast time as he contested the 2020 Miracle Mile finishing sixth behind King Of Swing.
“Everyone at the stable absolutely loves him and I’ve got a real soft spot for him, it’s a great credit to Marg and Paddy (Lee) and all the team at home to be able to get him back and win a couple of free for alls,” Lee said.
