NSW Derby favorite Always Hot rounded off his preparation and provided the Emma Stewart stable with a two-state winning quartet when he led all the way in the Swift Signs Pace at Melton on Saturday night.

Ballot exempt after taking out the Simpson Sprint at Menangle last month, Always Hot played at home while his Derby rivals contested the three heats, which resulted in a clean sweep for Emma Stewart camp as The Highlight Reel, Silver Pistol and Storms Collide all saluted.

Stewart will harness up six runners in next week's $200,000 Group 1 feature after both I Am The Storm and Go Miki also qualified.

Bay Of Biscay completed the stable's quadruplet when he led all the way in the Group 1 Chariots Of Fire.

Always Hot, the prohibitive $1.05 favorite known at the stables as "Hot Shot", wasn't extended as he dashed home his last 400 metres in 27.7 seconds while rating 1:55.9 for the 2240 metres.

"It feels like there is plenty more left (in the tank) to me, especially this time around as we haven't seen him come off the track tired," driver Greg Sugars said after the race.

"It's a very exciting position to be in."

Pre-barrier draw, Sugars is quietly confident the son of Always B Miki can make it eight wins from as many starts in the NSW Derby Final.

"Obviously Derbies are never easy to win no matter who you are, and they've run some great times in the heats up there tonight," he said.

"There are going to be a lot of handy horses in it, but I wouldn't swap my drive for any of them."

The Stewart stable's extraordinary depth of three-year-old talent was highlighted earlier in the night when Fox Dan ($1.25 fav) scored an impressive first-up win in the Centre State Printing Pace after siting parked in a mile rate of 1:54.5.

Another three-year-old, former New Zealand filly Samkerr ($1.35 fav), completed back-to-back wins when she led all the way in the Hip Pocket Castlemaine Pace.

The Narcissist ($1.12 fav) secured Stewart's Melton four-peat when he chalked up his fifth consecutive win since joining the stable from Queensland last year.

The postilion juggernaut that is James Herbertson continues unabated after the state's leading driver landed his own winning quartet at Melton on Saturday night.

On the back of a treble the previous evening at Ararat, Herbertson drove the first three winners, including the Jess Tubbs-trained mare Rakero Rebel in the Lifestyle Communities Woodlea Pace.

First-up since November, Rakero Rebel ($7.50) settled at the rear of the field from her second row draw before Herbertson embarked on a three-wide run without cover with 700 metres to travel and the six-year-old reeled in stablemate Rocknroll Hammer to score by two metres.

Herbertson conceded he was surprised by the mare's first-up showing.

"Greg (Sugars) said she needed the run, and she felt like she needed it early on. She wasn't real sharp, and I've driven her a couple of times when she's gone monstrous, but tonight she was a little bit doughier," Herbertson said.

"Considering where she was in the run, she probably had no right to win which makes her run even better.

"I thought there was enough tempo early to bring us into it, but I didn't expect to win," he said.

Herbertson expects Rakero Rebel to be competitive in feature races this campaign.

"That run should put her in good stead, we'll just have to wait and see when the hammer really goes on and she has to do a bit of work," he said.