Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Supporters of star juvenile Water Lou survived some anxious moments before the $1.04 favourite defied a serious late challenge from the $11 second fancy Xceptional Arma to win the $29,400 Direct Trades Supply Gold Bracelet at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Water Lou, driven by Shannon Suvaljko for trainer Stephen Reed, began from barrier two and took the lead after 150m before setting an extremely slow early pace with a lead time of 40.2sec. and an opening 400m section of 33.1sec.
Water Lou then covered the next two quarters in 29.1sec. and 28.4sec. before weakening over the final stages and responding to Suvaljko’s urgings to beat Xceptional Arma by a head when the final 400m took 30.3sec.
This fighting win was Water Lou’s fifth from her five starts, and it boosted her earnings to $93,591. She and the Colin Brown-trained Xceptional Arma look set for further exciting duels in upcoming feature events for two-year-old fillies.