By Michael Howard (HRV)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tough Tilly headed Ladies In Red and Treachery as Emma Stewart\u2019s brilliant mares put on a show in The Make Mine Cullen.<\/p>\n
The first leg of the Elizabeth Clarke Mares Triple Crown will only whet the appetite for the two big races to come \u2013 the Angelique Club Pace and Benstud Queen Of The Pacific \u2013 with the lead trio pouring home in a remarkable 54.1-second last half.<\/p>\n
Celebrated horse Ladies In Red overcame her second row draw and rallied to attempt the nigh impossible, but Tough Tilly was outstanding in front, shooting to the lead from the widest gate in a brisk first quarter and holding all challengers to win for her owners, the EB Research Partnership Australia.<\/p>\n
They would have been rapt to have seen their beloved butterfly first past the post on Kate Gath\u2019s silks\u00a0and it was a rapt driver who spoke to TrotsVision post-race.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a win, she just did it so easy the whole way,\u201d Gath said of Tough Tilly. \u201cI\u2019m really surprised at that time because it felt way cruisier than that. She\u2019s such a good horse.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re never confident with Ladies In Red (on our outside), but we\u2019ve obviously beaten her \u2026 three times now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gath was able to take command of the race from gate seven, crossing all with Dougs Babe (gate four) finding her back. Ladies In Red joined her with a lap to go and it was race on.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I got the 28.2 (first quarter) I thought, it\u2019s pretty good, she\u2019s burnt initially for a 100 but then she come straight back to me,\u201d Gath said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second quarter was pretty cheap and I knew she\u2019d throw out a pretty quick last sectional. She was just super.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tough Tilly had every answer as the leaders cleared out from the field, with only Treachery able to keep pace, the third of the Stewart trifecta running on brilliantly to finish within 3.7 metres of the winner after launching from the back of the field.<\/p>\n
Ladies In Red split them, finishing just 1.1 metres off Tough Tilly, to maintain her streak of finishing top two in all of her 24 starts, which have included 19 wins.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet, but her run was out of this world,\u201d Stewart said of Ladies In Red. \u201cThe sectionals were crazy and she had to earn a spot in the breeze. She definitely lost no admirers tonight and her run was super.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart has long considered Tough Tilly her favourite horse, telling TrotsVision \u201cshe\u2019s beautiful and I love her\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was stoked to see her win,\u201d she said. \u201cThe draw wasn\u2019t ideal when it came out and it was all going to be a matter of how hard she had to work to find the front. Once she found the front so easily she was always going to be so hard to run down.\u201d<\/p>\n
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By Michael Howard (HRV) Tough Tilly headed Ladies In Red and Treachery as Emma Stewart\u2019s brilliant mares put on a show in The Make Mine Cullen. The first leg of the Elizabeth Clarke Mares Triple Crown will only whet the appetite for the two big races to come \u2013 the Angelique Club Pace and […]<\/p>\n