EMMA Stewart has ensured her place in harness racing immortality.
Stewart had one of the biggest moments in her already distinguished training career by landing the rare feat of a group 1 trifecta.
Heartbeat Hexham ($7.20) led home stablemates Beauty Secret ($3) and Shake It Mama ($2.10 favourite) in the $100,000 Vicbred Super Series final for three-year-old fillies, 2240m, at Melton on Friday night.
Her other runner The Good Times finished sixth.
The Smythes Creek stable of Stewart and partner Clayton Tonkin has had some outstanding success stories, with a series of group 1 and feature race winners, but producing one-two-three in a race of this stature goes to a new level.
Heartbeat Hexham, Beauty Secret and Shake It Mama are now all group 1 winners.
Beauty Secret took out the Victoria Oaks — a race in which the three placegetters all contested — earlier this year and Shake It Mama saluted in the Bathurst Gold Tiara as a two-year-old.
The trio has earned a combined amount of more than $400,000, with Beauty Secret leading the way with almost $190,000, Shake It Mama $225,000 and Hexham Heartbeat $75,000.
Hexham Heartbeat is only a relative newcomer to the racetrack, with three wins and four minor placings from eight starts, all this season. She is a half-sister to another group 1 winner in Royal Verdict, which has 13 wins and more than $500,000 in stakes.
Stewart is riding the crest of a wave, rushing into third position in the Victoria trainers’ premiership with 68 wins from 200 starters.
And there could be another group 1 victory on the way at Melton on Friday night.
Philadelphia Man will start favourite in the $100,000 Vicbred Super Series final for three-year-old colts and geldings, 22400m, after an impressive semi-final win.