An inside draw gave Monbet deserved favouritism over Stent in the Green Mile for trotters at Methven yesterday - and he did not waste it.
Monbet's driver, Ricky May, won the early battle for the lead and that was all but the winning of the race after Stent settled four back and sufffered traffic problems until the last furlong.
May got away with some cheap sectionals in the first half of the 1609m race, before sprinting clear with 300m to go.
Stent's driver and co-trainer Colin De Filippi finally found some clear space up the inside with 200m to go, but could only get as close as 3 lengths at the finish.
Monbet gave a brief scare when he veered in with 150m to go, but May kept the 4yr-old to his task, stopping the clock at 2.00.19.
Quick As A Trick provided Christchurch junior driver Jessica Young with her biggest win to date, leading all the way to upset in the pacers' Green Mile.
The duo held out favourite Mossdale Conner in the early skirmish for the lead and, despite latching on to the bit, the Bruce Negus-trained gelding kept on rolling, winning by 2 lengths over Mossdale Conner in 1.57.08.
Young, a qualified pharmacist, rattled favourite punters earlier in the day as well, when she set Franco Texas loose to run down $1.70 favourite Hypervelocity in race 2.
Negus has always had a high opinion of Quick As A Trick, who is owned by Greg Brodie. Negus and Brodie combined in the same roles for much of the career of champion age-grade pacer Courage Under Fire at the turn of the century.
