MOTHER-and-son harness racing combination Marg and Jason Lee are celebrating group 1 glory with enterprising filly Jilliby Jitterbug.
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The Rock N Roll Heaven-Keppel Bay two-year-old defied a horror start to win the $322,000 Australian Pacing Gold Final at Melton on Saturday.
The 3.8-metre triumph, from Hot Shot Woman and Three Squared, gave the Ecklin South clan its fourth group 1 win — but first in more than a decade.
Their previous winners were Jilliby Gold (June 3, 2000), Jilliby Melody (June 10, 2000) and Jilliby Magic (December 11, 1999).
But those three, while bred and pre-trained at their stables, were trained elsewhere. The latest triumph was Marg’s first at group 1 level in her own right.
Marg ranked the win as among the highlights of her career, on a par with Keayang Cullen saluting in the 2013 Terang Cup.
“This was my first group 1 as a trainer, so it’s pretty special. The Terang Cup was up there. I’ve been involved with Terang a lot,” she said.
Marg was rapt with the courage shown in the race. Jilliby Jitterbug was off the inside second row and seemingly had an ideal trail behind Hazels Girl.
But Hazels Girl galloped at the start, forcing Jason to take Jilliby Jitterbug to the back of the field, and then three wide for the 1720-metre trip.
The winning mile rate was one minute, 56.5 seconds, with sectionals of 29.4, 30.4, 27.8 and 29.3.
“Our plan of being behind the leader went out the door. We ended up out the back. The tactics had to change from there,” Marg said.
“We ended up going three wide, getting a trail on Hot Shot Woman. We trailed up on the last lap. Jason worked his way on the home corner into the clear.”
Marg praised Jason, who tasted group 1 success in the sulky for the first time, for his level-headed drive after the early drama.
The young reinsman started Saturday with three quarters of football for Nirranda against Timboon Demons at Nirranda before heading to Melton.
“Super, he never panicked at all. Once things changed he kept his cool and got a beautiful trail into the race. He did the job from there,” Marg said.
“I didn’t want him to play footy but they wanted him to play until three-quarter-time. Glen (Craven) was on standby if anything did go wrong.
“Jase kept out of trouble. He left at three-quarter-time. He promised he wouldn’t be late.”
Marg said she would aim Jilliby Jitterbug at the 2015 Breeders Crown series. Heats for two-year-old fillies are at Kilmore on August 1.
Meanwhile, harness racing action returns to Terang’s Dalvui Raceway tomorrow night. The first of seven races is at 6pm.
