TAB Eureka 2025 Winner
CHAMPION trainer Emma Stewart declared Bay Of Biscay’s historic $2.1mil TAB Eureka win as the greatest moment of her stellar career.
The 43-year-old Stewart, who boasts almost 3500 wins and 140 at Group 1 level, said the win trumped her success with former star mare Encipher in the inaugural 2023 TAB Eureka, the world’s richest harness race.
“I didn’t think we could top that, but this has,” she said. “This horse has been so special to Clayton and I from the first day he walked into the stable ... Clayton called him the ‘Golden Child’.
“We thought so much of him, we ran him as a three-year-old in the race last year and he was an unlucky second. Everything has been built around coming back to go one better this year and he’s done it.”
Australia’s top young driver Cam Hart said the thrill matched any of his stellar career, including two NZ Cups and a Hunter Cup with champion stayer Swayzee.
“It’s right up with any thrill I’ve had in such a huge race in my own backyard,” he said. “I’ve been so lucky to have the owners and Emma and Clayton back me in to drive this horse. I was on him last year and going one better means everything.”
Hart summed the race up perfectly early when, from a wide draw, he balanced up and then rushed forward to take the lead from Seathestars and then cut Bay Of Biscay loose over the last 1200m.
Bay Of Biscay held-on strongly to beat stablemate Fox Dan by 1.5m with another metre to Luke McCarthy’s Hesitate in third spot.
Earlier, Josh Gallagher cemented the nickname “Josh the Giant-killer” when he caused one of the biggest upsets in recent feature race history aboard Cya Art in the $150,000 Group 1 Len Smith Mile.
It rekindled memories of Gallagher’s breakthrough win on $41 outsider Boncel Benjamin in the 2021 Inter Dominion final at Menangle.
Just as there was drama with Boncel Benjamin winning on protest, Cya Art was first emergency for the Len Smith and only gained a start because of the scratching of defending champion Catch A Wave.
Gallagher gave Cya Art a cosy run three back on the inside in a frantically run race and took all the inside gaps to nose-out Captains Knock in a race record and scorching 1min47.5sec mile.
“That’s so special on so many levels,” Gallagher said. “To share it with Robbie and Kerry Ann (Morris, co-trainers) and the fact Aleisha (Gallagher’s wife) and I own the horse.”
The shock of the race was the unplaced run of superstar pacer Swayzee first-up from a spell, but he did the work outside the leader in blistering time and was only beaten 4.9m in sixth spot.
