By Jordan Gerrans
Just days after training his first winner, horseman David Stewart will throw his couple of pacers in the deep end and compete in the first Ultimate Driver Championship.
The 46-year-old Stewart nabbed his maiden victory as a trainer on Monday evening at Redcliffe when Perfect Feeling held on to win at a big price over 1780 metres.
The nine-year-old gelding will be on the quick back-up on Friday evening when he tackles the seventh heat of the UDC with Queensland contender Angus Garrard in the bike.
Perfect Feeling’s stablemate Downtown Manhattan will contest the following heat at Albion Park with champion Western Australian reinsman Gary Hall Jnr taking on the assignment.
The inaugural UDC will bring together megastars of the sport such as Bjorn Goop and Dexter Dunn but will also hand hobby trainers such as Stewart the opportunity to compete with the best.
“It will be a good two nights, I reckon,” Stewart said.
“I think it will be one of those things that’ll just get better every year. The concept will only get better and improve.
“I think with the right run behind him, I think Downtown Manhattan can surprise a few people as his run the other day was good when he ran second.”
The UDC will be contested across 20 races, spread over two feature nights at Albion Park on Friday and Saturday.
Stewart has a handful of driving victories to his name in his decades in the sport but has recently taken over the training duties of Perfect Feeling and Downtown Manhattan.
He was giving Queensland horseman Darren Weeks and former leading driver Kylie Rasmussen a hand with their horses, which sparked his interest in taking on more horses in his own name.
“It is good to get a winner on my own, my partner Wanita Regazzoli she helps a lot with them, as well,” Stewart said.
“We decided to have a serious sort of go at training. I was giving Darren and Kylie a hand with their horses and I got the bug again, it hit me after working for their horses.
“I really enjoyed it and Wanita and I spoke about getting a few horses while we were keen. Hopefully we can win a few races with these two.”
Stewart is stabled at Stewart Dickson’s Caboolture property and knew Heavens Baby – who was in Perfect Feeling’s race on Monday evening – would be fit and strong at the finish.
He was in the sulky of his gelding and snuck a break on the field before the home turn, which turned into the winning move, as while Heavens Baby and reinsman Leonard Cain dived late, they just missed out.
The finish was so close that Stewart actually thought Cain got the money and was surprised when he saw his number in the frame.
“It shocked me a bit because he went bad the start before,” the trainer and driver said of Perfect Feeling’s performance.
“I was not expecting much on Monday but in the run, with the two horses going back, I thought I may as well put him into the race and see what happens.
“When I headed the leader, I had to go for home as I knew Heavens Baby is a lot fitter than my guy so I needed to get a break on him.
“I went for glory and hoped for the best.”
Perfect Feeling has been prepared by Stewart for much of this year after previously being in the care of Warwick horseman Dayl March.
Downtown Manhattan has recently transferred from Ricky Gordon’s stable to Stewart.
“He has been really good for me so far, he has surprised me actually,” Stewart said of Downtown Manhattan.
Stewart went close to preparing his first winner back in the 2012-2013 season when he collected seven minor placings but could not break through before Monday with the 15 starters he had taken to the races.
Perfect Feeling is rated as a $8.50 chance on Friday evening while Downtown Manhattan is $27 with the bookmakers.
Click here to learn more about the Ultimate Driver Championship.
