Aardiebytheseaside remains unbeaten
Only two mares have been successful in the first 43 runnings of the prestigious Golden Nugget championship, but superstar pacer Aardiebytheseaside gave further proof at Gloucester Park on Friday night that she the class to join Countess Kala (1999) and Libertybelle Midfrew (2014) as a winner of the group 1 event for four-year-olds.
The New Zealand-bred Aardiebytheseaside remained unbeaten in Western Australia when she overcame a serious early challenge and went on to score a brilliant victory in the group 3 $50,000 August Cup over 2536m on Friday night.
She appears to have an iron grip on the $100,000 Norms Daughter Classic on November 8 and the $150,000 Mares Classic the following week, and she deserves a crack at the $200,000 Golden Nugget over 2536m on December 13.
Aardiebytheseaside, prepared by champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond, was the only mare in the August Cup in which she was the $1.20 favourite from the coveted No. 1 barrier --- and she made her WA record six starts for six wins when she became just the fifth mare in the 73-year history to win the race when she easily defeated Talks Up A Storm ($14) and Sangue Reale ($26).
Last December Wonderful To Fly was given her chance as the only mare in the Golden Nugget when she charged home from the rear to finish second to Tricky Miki.
Deni Roberts, who has handled Aardiebytheseaside in all her WA appearances, had to drive the mare vigorously in the early stages to fend off a powerful challenge for the lead from Talks Up A Storm, who led by a half-length for the first 200m before Kyle Harper restrained him and was able to angle the six-year-old to the pegs to follow the pacemaking Aardiebytheseaside.
After a third 400m section of 28.9sec. Aardiebytheseaside needed only a final quarter of 29.4sec. to beat Talks Up A Storm by just over a length. Roberts had no need to release the ear plugs.
“She was way better than she was at her previous start (a fortnight earlier),” said Roberts. “But she was a bit too keen for my liking. She had to burn hard early to hold her spot and I thought she would’ve overraced worse than she did. So, I’m pretty happy with that.
“She got half way down the (home) straight and wanted to knock off before taking off again. She just wants some company.”
Aardiebytheseaside is still relatively inexperienced, having had 27 starts for 14 wins, eight placings and $364,226 in prizemoney. Her victory gave the Bond stable its fourth success in the August Cup, following victories with Mister Odds On in 2009 and Vampiro in 2019 and 2021.
Trotter’s golden run
New South Wales-bred five-year-old Hold That Gold continued on his merry way for Bunbury trainer Bob Mellsop and driver Deni Roberts when he was not extended in setting the pace and beating Dreambigaimhigh and Luvaflair in the $21,000 Smooth FM Perth Trot over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
It was the gelding’s sixth win from eight starts in his current campaign and took his Western Australian record to 12 starts for seven wins and two second placings.
It also completed a yet another treble for Roberts who was successful earlier in the night with Rattlin Lilly and Aardiebytheseaside.
Roberts was able to get Hold That Gold, the $1.40 favourite, to amble through the lead time in 39.5sec. and the opening quarter in a slow 31.1sec. before running comfortable final sections in 30sec., 30.2sec. and 30.8sec.
Dreambigaimhigh ($9) will pay to follow. He raced in the one-out, one-back position and fought on gamely to dead-heat for second with $5.50 chance Luvaflair. This was Dreambigaimhigh’s fourth successive second placing.
Chillin gets home by a whisker
Champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr timed Chillin’s finishing run to perfection when the four-year-old got up in the final desperate stride to snatch a nose victory over the pacemaker Major Overs ($3.90) in the 1730m Catalanotrucks.com.au Pace at Gloucester Park on Fridy night.
Chillin, the $2.90 favourite trained by Michael Young, began from barrier four and raced three wide early before racing without cover.
“I never thought Chillin would breeze on a Friday night and win a race,” Hall admitted. “He probably put the writing on the wall on Tuesday when he led and won. It was a different story tonight, and it was good to see him do it.
“I had a lap full of horse on the bend. I knew I didn’t want to get there (in front) too early because he does turn his toes up, and in the end, I thought I might have left it too late.”
Young said that a decision to give Chillin a little freshen-up was paying dividends. “His first campaign was good when he won a lot of races,” he said.
At his first nine starts in WA (after winning once from 18 appearances in Victoria and New South Wales) Chillin won four races and was placed four times from eight starts in Albany from last December to February this year. He then went for a spell and resumed in June when he was unplaced at his first three starts back.
“So, I gave him a freshen-up, and now he’s back,” said Young.
Chillin is by Captaintreacherous and is the fourth foal out of the unraced Christian Cullen mare Hot Chili Stride. He has earned $54,603 from seven wins and ten placings from 33 starts. His elder half-brother My Ultimate Romeo raced 201 times for 18 wins, 49 placings and $149,992, winning races in Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria.
Whos The Dad gets the job done
WA-bred five-year-old Whos The Dad went into Friday night’s Final Bridge Bar Pace at Gloucester Park with just one win from his previous 26 starts --- and he was described by reinsman Ryan Warwick and trainer Ryan Bell as a pacer difficult to follow.
“Looking at his form before the race, it goes up and down a bit,” said Warwick, who was driving Whos The Dad for the first time, becoming the 16TH person to drive him in a race.
“I’m not convinced he is a hundred per cent genuine, but he was tonight.”
Whos The Dad, from the No. 6 barrier, was an outsider at $39.40, and Warwick quickly had him settling nicely in the one-out and one-back position with the $1.45 favourite Coney Island Lou setting a moderate pace after a slow lead time of 37.9sec. and a dawdling opening quarter of 31.7sec.
Solesseo Matuca ($5) was working in the breeze before he got to the front about 115m from the finish. Whos The Dad finished strongly to get to the front in the final few strides to win by 2m from Solesseo Matuca, with Sovrana ($9.50) running on into third place.
“I thought the leader might have rolled along a bit quicker,” said Warwick. “Whos The Dad was following a helmet without travelling too well, and into the bell I touched his tail a couple of times and said I’m not going to worry too much about how he’s travelling. Hopefully, when I pull off the helmet, he will just ping, and he did and got the job done.”
Bell said he felt that Whos The Dad was the beneficiary of a few horses going unders. “He is capable on his night, but he has been a bit hit and miss,” said Bell.
“It was good to see him come from behind tonight. The way he trackworks you would think he is definitely going to go to Free-For-Alls.”
Conery Island Lou dropped out to finish eighth, with reinsman Stuart McDonald explaining: “He overraced and may have choked down.”
Mandown enjoys the stand
Lightly-raced New Zealand-bred pacer Mandown made a successful debut in a standing-start event when he began smoothly from barrier five on the front line and relished his role of pacemaker when he won the 2503m Retravision Every Day’s A Sale Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The four-year-old was the $1.40 favourite, and he gave his supporters no cause for concern when he dashed straight to the front and set a modest early pace with opening quarters of the final mile in 31.8sec. and 30.5sec. before sprinting over the final 400m sections in 28.7sec. and 28.3sec.
He won by more than a length from $21 chance Duty Bound, who trailed him all the way.
“Mandown probably travels better outside (in the breeze) like he did when he showed a good turn of foot and won at Bunbury three starts ago,” said trainer-reinsman Gary Hall jnr.
“He gets off with the fairies out in front and waits until you tell him what to do. I’m mindful of not going too slow with him. I probably did that early tonight. When you wake him up there is always something there. He seems to get better every time he starts.”
Mandown is by former star pacer Vincent and he is the fifth foal out of the unraced Christian Cullen mare Close Escape. He has had six starts in WA for five wins and one second placing, taking his record to 22 starts for seven wins, seven placings and stakes of $64,259.
Rattlin Lilly is super tough
Five-year-old Rattlin Lilly is WA’s best stayer, according to outstanding driver Deni Roberts, who was full of praise for the mare after guiding her to a narrow victory in the Vili’s Family Bakery Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“I’d like to find a stronger word than tough to describe her,” she said.
Rattlin Lilly was the $5.60 third favourite on Friday night when she began from the outside (No. 9) on the front line in the 2130m event in which Montana Glory from barrier eight was the $4 favourite.
Rattlin Lilly settled down in last place in the field of eleven before Roberts sent her forward, three wide, after 500m to move to the breeze outside the pacemaker Sly Terror ($8). Rattlin Lilly got to the front 650m from home and had to withstand spirited challenges from Soho Firestone ($9), Lombo Mitchinson ($5.50) and Montana Glory before winning by a head from Soho Firestone, with Lombo Mitchinson a half-head away in third place.
“I’m exhausted,” said Roberts after the race. “I looked over (in the closing stages) and saw Aiden (De Campo, driving Lombo Mitchinson) and Mitchell (Miller, driving Soho Firestone), and we were all working harder than the horses.
“Early on, I was a bit indecisive because I was so far off them, and I really needed them to back off, and luckily, they did. Rattlin Lilly knocked off when she got to the front but once they levelled and headed her in the straight, she got going again.”
Rattlin Lilly has won at four of her past five starts, taking her earnings to $82,533 from eight wins and eleven placings from 28 starts.
Soho Vesper Lind triumphs
Astute trainer Kim Prentice produced Soho Honey Rider and Soho Vesper Lind in fine fettle for their first-up West Australian debuts in the $21,000 The West Australian Pace for three-year-old fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Soho Honey Rider was all the rage and was the $1.90 favourite from the outside barrier in the field of five, while Soho Vesper Lind was splendid value at $8.40 at barrier two.
Soho Vesper Lind, driven by Stuart McDonald, upstaged her stablemate by scoring an impressive victory, beating the $4.60 pacemaker Luci Kane by 2m, with Soho Honey Rider 5m back in third place.
The event was run in an Indian file figuration until Mitch Miller eased Soho Honey Rider off the pegs with 900m to travel.
Soho Honey Rider moved to the breeze in the back straight and had Soho Vesper Lind in a pocket. Soho Honey Rider was still second on the home turn, with Soho Vesper Lind badly blocked for a run. However, Soho Honey Rider began to weaken, and this enabled McDonald to get Soho Vesper Lind into the clear with 130m to travel, and the filly finished powerfully to win convincingly at her first start for three months.
“I got the better run than Soho Honey Rider from the better draw,” said McDonald. “Soho Vesper Lind travelled well, and I thought that if I was able to get a gap, she would go close to winning. And I got that gap, and she took it and won.”
Soho Vesper Lind is by Art Major and is the third foal out of the Bettors Delight mare Soho Madeleine, who had 33 starts for nine wins, 15 placings and $96,803.
Soho Vesper Lind has earned $62,445 from three wins and six placings from 20 starts. His dam is a full-sister to former star pacer Suave Stuey Lombo, who had 110 starts for 33 wins, 23 placings and $587,032 in stakes.
Brown seizes the opportunity
Maddison Brown made the most of an unexpected opportunity at Gloucester Park on Friday night by driving experienced mare Wall Street Girl to an easy win in the www.gloucesterpark.com.au Pace.
When Jocelyn Young became unwell, Brown was engaged to drive Wall Street Girl, who had impressed when Young drove her in the breeze to win a 2130m event from Benji and Loucid Dreams at Gloucester Park on Tuesday evening.
Wall Street Girl, trained by Debra Lewis, was a $4 third fancy from barrier five, and she settled down in the one-out, one-back position while the polemarker Get Ya Bets On ($3.60) was setting the pace from the $3.50 favourite Im Eugene in the breeze.
Im Eugene was overracing and contacting his own sulky, and with about 1150m to travel he shifted out and Dylan Egerton-Green eased him back to the rear and from then on didn’t drive him out.
This left Wall Street Girl racing without cover. But she was full of running when Brown sent her to the front 300m from home on her way to winning by a length and a half from $26 chance Soho Gigolo.
“I thought that Wall Street Girl could race in the breeze again like she did on Tuesday, but when Im Eugene got pulling in the breeze, I was happy to sit in the one-one position,” said Brown.
Brown has enjoyed a successful association with Wall Street Girl, a seasoned campaigner she had driven three times earlier in her career for a win,a second and a sixth placing.
Wall Street Girl has been a handy moneyspinner who has now earned $127,852 from 13 wins and 24 placings from 70 starts. She is by Alta Christiano and is out of the South Australian-bred Elsu mare Manhattan Dream, who raced 71 times for 17 wins,15 placings and $35,241.
Manhattan Dream’s dam Miss Holmes had four starts in WA in April-May 2004 when Gary Hall snr prepared her for her victory in the WA Oaks. She was retired with a record of 49 starts for seven wins, eight placings and $78,789.
Munro’s optimism is justified
Blythewood trainer-reinsman Michael Munro went into the $19,000 Sky Racing Listen Live Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night full of confidence even though Paroquet was awkwardly drawn out wide at barrier No. 8.
And after he had driven the six-year-old mare, a $59.30 outsider, to an upset victory over the $1.50 favourite Ideal Tomado, Munro declared: “Winning wasn’t a shock for me. Paroquet is at the top of her game, and I expected her to be too strong for them (the opposition) tonight. It was money for jam.”
Polemarker Ideal Tomado was smartest into stride and then ambled through the lead time in 37.8sec. and then covered the opening quarters in modest times of 32sec. and 30.6sec. before dashing over the final 400m sections in 28sec. and 28.5sec.
Munro was in an aggressive mood, and he followed Flying Rumour’s early three-wide move before getting to the breeze 450m after the start. Paroquet forged past Ideal Tomado 50m from the post and went on to beat the favourite by a neck, rating 1.58.5 over 2130m.
“From barrier eight I was just going to see how they came out, and I came across with them,” said Munro. “I then drove her like the best horse in the race. She put the pressure on and still had plenty left to kick home.
“Paroquet is at her top but can still go a bit better. Her run the previous Friday night was massive when she came from last at the bell to run third to Sovrana.”
Paroquet, bred and owned by Paula Petricevich, is by American sire Shadow Play and is the tenth and last foal out of the unraced Walton Hanover mare Smooth Moven.
Paroquet has improved steadily since she managed just two placings (thirds at Wagin and Narrogin) as a two and three-year-old. She has now raced 73 times for 13 wins, 15 placings and $133,054.
“I have always liked her breeding, being by Shadow Play, and Shadow Play’s usually don’t come good until they’re about four,” said Munro.
