Stewart stamps her authority on Derby and Oaks heats

Emma Stewart dominated the Victoria Derby and Oaks heats at Melton on Saturday night, training four of the five winners on a feature-packed harness racing card a week out from the Victoria Cup.

Stewart won two of the three Woodlands Stud Victoria Derby heats with Enjoy Life and Brooklyn Dan, and both Prydes Easifeed Victoria Oaks heats with Willows Girl and Bettor Beach.

Enjoy Life had to dig deep in the first heat. Settled near the tail from barrier nine by Mark Pitt, the $2.30 favourite sustained a three-wide run from the back straight, wore down Soho Charmer and held off his fast-finishing stablemate Mount Barker Boy ($31) by the barest of margins, with Ruggards Gee Tee third.

The win continued a strong run for the Group 1 Vicbred Super Series Final winner, who had been beaten only once in his previous 10 starts.

ENJOY LIFE REPLAY

The second heat settled the score between Brooklyn Dan and Soho Trump, who had come into the race with a win apiece this year. Drawn side by side, Soho Trump ($2.70) led and Brooklyn Dan ($2) sat on his back before finishing too strongly to win by 1.7 lengths, with Le Cardinal third.

Driver Cameron Hart credited the colt’s relaxed manner for the win.

The only Derby heat to escape Stewart went to Queensland Derby winner Palladium (Bettors Delight) for trainer Brad Hewitt and driver Nathan Jack. Beaten for early speed from the pole by Nymbal, Palladium surged to the lead once Nymbal took the trail and powered away to win by 5.7 lengths as the $1.90 favourite, with Dynamitedan third.

All three heat winners now head to the Derby final at Melton next Saturday. In the Oaks heats, Bettor Beach was the shortest-priced winner of the night at $1.04, while Willows Girl, a daughter of Sweet Lou, won the other heat for Hart. Hart and Pitt shared the driving honours with two winners each.

The night opened with an unprecedented fourth Smoken Up Sprint win for 11-year-old Bulletproof Boy (Art Official), who had also won the race in 2021, 2023 and 2025. Pushed through from barrier 10 on the second row by James Herbertson, he gained the one-one trail behind the $1.55 favourite Fighter Command, dashed to the front at the top of the straight and held off Our Sunset Delight by 0.3 lengths in 1:50.7 for the 1720 metres. At $8.50, he was the longest-priced winner of the night.

BULLETPROOF BOY REPLAY

Before the race, trainer Scott Ewen said his veteran would need luck from the wide draw, but pointed to his record in the race.

“It is a race he seems to love,” Scott Ewen said.

The two Group 1 Aldebaran Park Need For Speed finals for three-year-old trotters went to Kyvalley Ray in the colts and geldings and Harpersevn in the fillies. Kyvalley Ray, a multiple Group 1 winner in New Zealand who galloped out of contention in his heat, made amends at $3.90, winning by 9.5 lengths from Muscle Valley with Munny The Munster third.

In the Group 3 V.L. Dullard Trotters Cup, Lovemeto took the honours, with the $1.50 favourite Gatesys Gem finishing sixth. Five favourites won across the nine races. On the breeding side, Bettors Delight was the only sire with more than one winner, through Palladium and Bettor Beach, with the other seven races going
to seven different sires.

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by Harnesslink Media