Edward family celebrates a golden double

Winning a Victoria Cup might be a great night, but winning a Victoria Cup and a Victoria Oaks on a stacked harness racing card from Melton might just be a thing of dreams.

But that scenario became a reality for owner-breeders Bruce and Vicki Edward, who snared the Cup with Act Now (Somebeachsomewhere) and the Oaks with Sweet Bella (Sweet Lou) during a memorable night at the races.

The Pryde’s EasiFeed Victoria Cup was the first of the spoils, with five-year-old Act Now rising to the occasion with Jodi Quinlan in the sulky.

The horse started at the long odds of $81, which surprised Bruce.

“I was very confident in the horse and I couldn’t believe the long odds,” he said.

Quinlan has had a long association with Act Now, partnering the striking son of Somebeachsomewhere to 20 of his 21 career wins.

“She understands the horse. It’s not an easy horse, it’s very quirky and she just let him do his thing,” Bruce said.

“Jodi has always said she’d love the opportunity to come from behind and that’s what he did on Saturday night.”

For Bruce and Vicki, harness racing has always been about family.

“Leigh my son gets pretty excited, the girls (grandkids) will probably have no idea about it,” he said.

Such was the excitement of the Victoria Cup triumph, Bruce almost missed watching Sweet Bella and David Moran secure the race he’s been chasing for so long.

“I was very excited after the Victoria Cup. I was in the stables talking to everybody and going through things and I thought goodness me the Oaks are on! I missed the start, but I quickly ran up the stairs and saw it,” he said.

“We’ve had a lot of success in the past, but the Victoria Cup is obviously very important. To be honest, as a breeder I’ve always wanted to win an Oaks and I was just as excited to win the Oaks as everything else.”

“It was a one in a million night.”

While Bruce and Vicki bred and race Act Now, they just own Sweet Bella. She was bred by Kaye and Martin Hartnett.

For complete race results, click here.

by Lachlan Mitchell, for Harness Racing Victoria