Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Widely travelled pacer Watts Up Sunshine looks set for a highly successful career in Western Australia where his two starts have resulted in effortless victories for trainer Michael Young and reinsman Gary Hall Jnr.
Watts Up Sunshine, a New South Wales-bred five-year-old, was the $1.40 favourite at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he was not extended in winning the 2130m Fly Like An Eagle Pace. The polemarker Dominus Factum led for the first 250m before Hall sent Watts Up Sunshine to the front. He dashed over the final three 400m sections in 28.6sec., 28.5sec. and 29.2sec. and rated 1.56.1 in beating Eldaytona ($14) by three and a half lengths.
Eldaytona did a good job to fight on doggedly after racing in the breeze to finish a nose ahead of $5 second fancy Stamford, who raced three back on the pegs before finishing strongly after getting clear 250m from home.
Watts Up Sunshine was bred and is owned by Brad Watts, who telephoned Young and asked if he would train the gelding whose 59 starts before arriving in WA produced ten wins in NSW, six wins in Queensland and four placings from nine starts in Victoria. He now boasts a career record of 61 starts for 18 wins, 17 placings and stakes of $182,334, with a highlight being his third placing behind Patsbeachstorm in the NSW Derby in March 2001.
“Watts Up Sunshine arrived in WA on a pretty good mark,” said Young. “He was high up over there because he had won a lot of juvenile money, and we get a discount on it, and he gets in pretty cheaply here. That has definitely helped. But I don’t think he needed that help because he is a pretty decent horse. He can win about another half dozen races before he gets to Free-For-All company.”