Man of the moment in Mildura spotlight

Young Shepparton harness racing driver Mark Pitt continued on his merry winning way last night at the opening meeting of the three-night Tasco Petroleum Mildura Pacing Cup carnival.

Pitt, 28, took out the two qualifying heats with “armchair rides” behind class pacers in Our Millionaire and Phoenix Prince, trained near Ballarat by the powerful Emma Stewart/Clayton Tonkin team.

The in-form reinsman, fresh from rewriting the history books in Tasmania last weekend with an awesome nine victories from nine drives, pinged to the front in both of the cup heats, dictated terms and put the results beyond doubt a long way from home.

Now the $64 question! Which of the horses will Pitt get to drive in Saturday’s nights G2 $60,000 final?

There’s a suggestion he may be on Our Millionaire as Jodi Quinlan has an established relationship with Phoenix Prince. But ultimately the decision will rest with Emma and Clayton.

On paper it’s hard to see any of the other runners causing duress as Our Millionaire and Phoenix Prince were simply too good on their qualifiers.

Our Millionaire (Million Dollar Cam-Rarified Air (Western Ideal) had a jog in the park early with 32.4 and 31.7 quarters. The six-year-old changed gears later with a final half of 55.8 seconds (29.6 and 26.2). He won easily from two locals in Mailman and Rocknroll Ronnie.

His aptly named stablemate Phoenix Prince (Somebeachsomewhere-Classic Cathy (Classic Garry) was equally dominant, posting what was his first win in more than two years.

His last success was in January 2020, in the Shepparton Gold Cup before being forced off the scene through injury.

The eight-year old’s return victory, his 18^th win from 40 starts, is another success for Stewart and Tonkin, who are renowned for their expertise in injury rehabilitation.

Pitt may have been in a hurry to get on the road for home, allowing Phoenix Prince to bowl along at a noticeably faster clip than Our Millionaire, with the overall race time being nearly four seconds quicker.

Jammed in between the two cup heat victories, Pitt got the money with Vince Vallelonga-trained Art Of Sheng Li (Art Major-Sheng Li (D M Dilinger in a heat of the Tenderprint Australia 2022 Cup.

Pitt now has driven over 465 wins—41 this season along with 33 placings.

Mildura races again on Friday, with a highlight being the $20,000 Trotters Cup. Then it’s the 2022 Tasco Patroleum Cup the following night.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink