By Lachlan Mitchell (HRV)<\/p>\n
Ladies In Red might have managed to steal a couple more admirers last Saturday night with a truly dazzling performance in the Benstud Standardbreds Queen Of The Pacific at Melton Entertainment Park.<\/p>\n
The Emma Stewart-trained mare had to do it the hard way, coming from behind to swoop over the field and win the $150,000 Group 1.<\/p>\n
Driver David Moran was full of admiration for the five-year-old, who had only just returned to the track two starts ago after a serious leg injury sidelined her for much of 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been quite amazing to be a part of the full journey,\u201d Moran told TrotsVision.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing career and a huge effort it\u2019s a great team effort from (co-trainers) Clayton (Tonkin) and Emma (Stewart).\u201d<\/p>\n
Moran had to bide his time to find the opportune moment to strike, with Ladies In Red\u2019s sustained three-wide run putting her in front at the turn before she raced clear in the straight to win by more than 10m.<\/p>\n
Not only did she take a staggering 1.8sec off the race record, but Ladies In Red was just 0.6sec outside the Melton 2760m track record set by Tiger Tara in the 2019 Hunter Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sort of tried to go with one run,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a great hunter from behind, so we just wanted to go with one run and make it a real strong last 1000m and hopefully the best horse wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ladies In Red\u2019s second-straight Queen of the Pacific lifted her prizemoney up over $1million and helped defend the Elizabeth Clarke Mares\u2019 Triple Crown title she also won in 2022.<\/p>\n
She finished the three-leg series (Make Mine Cullen, Angelique Club Pace and Queen of the Pacific) on 21 points to be five clear of runner-up Rakero Rebel.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a beautiful girl, she\u2019s played a big part in my life,\u201d Moran said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s great to drive. She\u2019s good and she settles when she needs to and drops the bit, and when it\u2019s time to go, she goes.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows what\u2019s she\u2019s doing, it\u2019s quite amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rakero Rebel and Amore Vita rounded out last Saturday night\u2019s placings, with Emma Stewart preparing five of the first six horses across the line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lachlan Mitchell (HRV) Ladies In Red might have managed to steal a couple more admirers last Saturday night with a truly dazzling performance in the Benstud Standardbreds Queen Of The Pacific at Melton Entertainment Park. The Emma Stewart-trained mare had to do it the hard way, coming from behind to swoop over the field […]<\/p>\n