Night of driving brilliance at Ballarat

It was an extraordinary night of driving brilliance at Ballarat as Kate Gath put on a clinic and then Chris Alford surpassed an unprecedented Australian milestone.

Gath was incredible early, steering the night’s first four winners before sitting out the fifth and then returning to win the sixth race with Tango Tara, which also gave trainer Andy Gath four wins for the night.

Alford then brought up his 7500^th career victory in Saturday night’s headliner, the Hip Pocket Workwear & Safety Coulter Crown, when he lifted Robbie Royale to the win by a short half-head.

It’s a milestone he humbly told Trots Vision he was “quite happy with”.

“I still love driving winners, whether it’s for big stables or little stables,” Alford said. “I’m going to (Shepparton) tomorrow (Sunday) for six or seven drives at a restricted meeting, you’ve got to support the people that support you and I still like driving winners, that’s for sure.”

Coming off 10 metres in the standing start, Robbie Royale progressed well and soon took the lead from his Brent Lilley-trained stablemate Stress Factor. He’d hold that all the way to the winning post, sustaining McLovin’s mid-race pressure and then holding off Stress Factor’s late challenge.

“I was surprised that Stress Factor got so close, because on the turn when he dropped off and McLovin was under pressure I thought I’d get going and put a couple of lengths on him,” Alford said.

“The last four or five strides I thought (Stress Factor) was definitely going to beat (Robbie Royale) and then he went with it again. I’m really happy, he’s been a lovely horse since he’s come (from New Zealand).”

The breathtaking milestone built on what had already been a stunning night for drivers courtesy of Kate Gath’s exploits, with the runaway leader in the Metropolitan Driver of the Year award falling only narrowly shy of joining the 24 Australian drivers to register six wins at a meeting.

The fact Gath threatened the leaderboard at a metropolitan meeting makes her achievement all the more meritorious.

“Sometimes things just fall into place,” Gath told Trots Vision. “I’ve been really fortunate to drive lots of really good horses, which helps.

“I tend to want to fly under the radar a bit, but I’m really grateful with everything I’ve been able to do in the last couple of years. You are only as good as the horses you drive, it really helps, I’ve been pretty lucky.”

She found the front with each of her first four drives tonight and was able to dictate the pace and win.

In the cases of Zigzagzoo, Mister Fortunia and Fynn Frost – all trained by her husband Andy – she was able to find at least one cheap quarter at the head of the affairs to ensure plenty was left in the tank for a late assault.

There was no such generosity shown to Gath’s fourth runner, Nikki Louise, but the four-year-old mare responded stoically to Diamond Party’s persistent pressure to score, making it four wins from as many starts since joining Emma Stewart’s stable.

Gath then capped her night in the Group 3 TAB Melton Pace Final, where Tango Tara was impressive in sitting in the breeze and nabbing leader Krafty Bart, who pulled for much of the race to make for a quickly run affair.

When Tango Tara hit the line two metres clear of Krafty Bart he stopped the clock at a 1:54.7 mile rate, just a second outside Rocknroll Icon’s track record that’s stood since 2018.

“He just went terrific,” Gath said. “He’s just getting better all the time, sort of working him harder all the time and he’s just thriving on it – that win tonight was pretty damn good.”

Splitting her run of five wins was Sirletic in the Alamora Tarneit Now Selling Pace, who benefited from the brisk early battle between Always Fast and Torrid Saint to win with a late swoop for trainer David Aiken and reinsman Josh Aiken.

Making the win all the more special for Josh was that he won in the silks of the seven-year-old gelding’s former trainer-driver, the late great Gavin Lang.

“Dad gets a great thrill out of training this horse and the connections get a great thrill, he was a special one to Gav – he told us to look after him and the owners will have fun and that’s the way it’s turned out.”

Favourites claimed races eight and nine by finding the front and scoring, with Chase The Hat Trick narrowly holding off Concealment to win the Ticketblaster Pace and then Aaron Dunn’s smart three-year-old Bondi Lockdown ripping home in 27.3 seconds to register a sixth win of his young but fruitful career.

Zuberi then capped the night with a win for trainer Colin Duncan and reinsman Josh Duggan, enjoying the drop in class to score in the Falvo Fruits Pace by 2.6 metres.