Phenomenal month continues

FRESH from dominating this month's Breeders' Crown, premier trainer Emma Stewart led the way during last night's opening round of the Inter Dominion in Ballarat.

Just to recap, Stewart prepared the winners in 10 of the 13 Breeders' Crown heats for two and three-year-old pacers, before winning seven of the eight semis.

The record-breaking horsewoman then won four of the six Breeders' Crown Finals in which she had a runner thanks to Susan Is Her Name, Major Delight, Encipher and Captain Ravishing.

Fast forward to the Inter Dominion qualifiers and Stewart captured two of the three, while finishing second in the other!

"It's been an incredible month for the stable," Stewart said. "The Breeders' Crown was amazing and now to win two Inter Dominion heats and have all the team do so well is terrific.

"There is still a long way to go in the series, so we won't be counting any chickens."

Stretching his winning streak to four, Act Now opened Stewart's account when he scored by a metre-and-a-half from Expensive Ego.

Mach Dan, a stablemate of the winner, was a metre-and-a-half away third.

Driven by Jodi Quinlan, Act Now rated 1:54.1 over 2200 metres, with his time three seconds quicker than his stablemate, Honolua Bay, in the second heat.

With David Moran in the cart, Honolua Bay reached the front in the last stride to win by a neck from Zeuss Bromac, with Majestic Cruiser five-and-a-half metres away third.

"I couldn't be happier with the way the all went, especially the winners," Stewart said.

Better Eclipse rounded out the heats when he led throughout in 1:56.7.

Trained by Jess Tubbs and driven by her husband, Greg Sugars, Better Eclipse completed a metre-and-a-half win from Narutac Prince, with A Gs White Socks a metre-and-a-half away third.