Kate and Tilly’s special bond strengthens even more

Harness racing’s Kate Gath and Tilly Wilkes still haven’t met, but the friendship already runs so deep.

It the moments after Tough Tilly’s biggest and most dominant win so far, Saturday night’s $350,000 Group 1 Australian Gold final, Gath looked down the barrel of the Trots Vision camera and said: “Hi Tilly, I’m so excited for you.”

When Gath’s night was finally over and she turned on her phone, the first text message she saw was from Wilkes, thanking her for drive on Tough Tilly and congratulating her.

COVID-19 has kept them apart, but Tough Tilly has brought them together.

Sadly Wilkes, the Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) sufferer and face of EB fundraising and awareness through Tough Tilly, hasn’t been trackside yet to cheer her darling filly home in a big one.

And it might be a while yet with Tough Tilly likely to have a break now as she targets a huge finish to 2021 in the Victoria Oaks, Vicbred and Breeders Crown – all at Melton.

On a night of stunning performances and great stories, Tough Tilly and the EB Research package stole the show. She was simply irresistible racing away from a strong field in track-record equalling time to snare her second Group 1 victory.

Her trainers Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin flexed their muscle yet again, winning three of the four Group 1 finals, the others with exciting youngsters IIrish Black Label and Ligh.

That pair were driven superbly by David Moran. The man best known for Lochinvar Art, has become the ultimate “go-to man” for Stewart and Tonkin when they have multiple runners in big races.

Only the NSW team of Tasty Delight, trainer Brian Portelli and driver Blake Fitzpatrick denied Stewart and Tonkin a clean sweep on the night when they relegated a very brave Act Now into second in the $350,000 Gold 3YO colts and geldings final.

It was a golden moment for Portelli, a richly deserved “major” for the luckless Tasty Delight and underlined the broad and brilliant horsemanship of Fitzpatrick.

Late Friday, Fitzpatrick, who also trains eight thoroughbreds, won the last race at Goulburn with $31 outsider Designer Maid.

No sooner did he get home when he was packing his driving back and hitting the road for the 18-hour return road trip with fellow NSW driver Jack Trainor so they could tackle the Australian Gold finals at Melton.

Just for good measure, while Fitzpatrick was leaving Melton, his promising trotter All Cashed Up won at Menangle.

Aussie interest in Sunday’s stellar NZ Harness Jewels meeting will be an all-time high despite the fact we don’t have any raiders competing at Cambridge.

Many of the biggest names of Jewels Day are headed our way in coming weeks for the pumped-up TAB Constellations – formerly Queensland Winter Carnival – at Albion Park.

They include the likes of Copy That, Krug and Amazing Dream – who are all the best of their crops in their respective Jewels finals, albeit barrier draws have evened-up a few of them.

Then there’s the fact so many Aussie owners will be key players through the nine-race card, which starts at 10.17am AEST time.

Victorians Jean Feiss and Merv Butterworth, long time and hugely successful players across the ditch, will have to watch their stars from home on Sky Racing owing our latest COVID-19 lockdown and the suspension to the NZ travel bubble.

Feiss’ two-year-old filly True Fantasy is favourite in her final (race four) to post a fourth win from just six starts.

Butterworth’s Copy That, arguably NZ’s best pacer, has been set quite the challenge from outside the back row (gate 13) over a mile in the last race. He will need to be really special to beat Bad To The Bone (gate five) and even South Coast Arden (seven) now.

The action will be hot from the start with Auckland Cup winner Amazing Dream boasting a stack of class over her rivals in race one, but now needing some luck from inside the back row (gate nine).

It’s the same story for superstar three-year-old Krug from inside the back row in race seven.

And even the dominant three-year-old filly Bettor Twist faces one of her biggest tests from outside the front (gate eight) over a mile.

He is a Miracle Mile winner, a $1.5 million-earner and he’s about to light-up Albion Park.

Spankem, one of NZ’s best pacers for the past three years, will start the next chapter of his career with Darren Weeks and Kylie Rasmussen in the standing-start Flaming Red at Albion Park on Saturday night.

Weeks and Rasmussen were thrilled with his arrogant trial win, albeit against moderate rivals, at Albion Park last Friday night.

Spankem will have two or three Albion Park runs before the big guns, headed by Team McCarthy trio King Of Swing, Expensive Ego and Mach Shard, land in Brisbane for the TAB Constellations.

By Adam Hamilton