Emma on the cusp of history

Harness racing trainer Emma Stewart is on the cusp of reaching a mind-blowing milestone.

The 40-year-old, who has stables in Cardigan, is just one elite level victory away from achieving her 100^th Group 1 training success after Soho Historia (Courage Under Fire) brought up win 99 on Saturday night (Jul. 23).

With Mark Pitt in the sulky, the three-year-old filly stormed home down the Albion Park straight to claim the Queensland Oaks and stretch her record to six wins from six starts since joining the stable.

Amazingly, no other trainer in Australasia is even close to the century mark that Stewart will almost certainly reach in the coming months.

Records can be sketchy dating back into last century, but since late 2001, New Zealand great Mark Purdon is next highest on the list of Group 1 training wins with 62.

Andy Gath has 55, Gary Hall senior 52, Belinda McCarthy 37 and Chris Lang 36.

Stewart’s Group 1 strike rate is also something to behold.

Her 99 wins at the top level have come from just 558 runners, with that equating to a winning percentage of 18.

She’s also trained 144 placegetters for overall Group 1 stakes in excess of $13 million.

Stewart’s training career began with just a handful of starters in the 2001-02 season, but she’s built steadily alongside her partner Clayton Tonkin ever since.

With stars like Guaranteed, Poster Boy, Shadow Sax, Restrepo, Maajida, Our Little General, Safari and, of course, Ladies In Red, Stewart has trained a total of 2666 winners for career stakes of more than $35 million.

She has won the past seven Victorian training premierships and currently sits second on the state leaderboard for 2022 behind Julie Douglas.

by Tim O’Connor, for HRV