Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Smart filly August Moon notched her fourth win in a row and completed a driving treble for Gary Hall Jnr when he guided her to a smart victory in the 2130m HTA Access Solutions Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Hall was full of praise for the Luke Edwards-trained August Moon, the $1.60 favourite from the outside barrier (No. 9), who was restrained at the start and was eleventh with 900 metres to travel when Hall sent her forward, with a strong three-wide burst.
Our Sandy Shore, the $4.20 second fancy, set a solid pace and she fought on gamely to finish second, a half-length behind August Moon, who had taken the lead 120m, from the post.
August Moon rated 1.57.3 after dashing over the final 400m in 28.8sec. She now has won at seven of her eight starts as a three-year-old and boasts a fine record of 15 starts for eight wins, four seconds and a third placing for stakes of $151,248.
She has developed into a leading candidate for the $150,000 WA Oaks on October 6.
“Tonight, she was probably as good as she has felt, for driving and the way she went,” said Hall. “Obviously, she is in the top three for the Oaks, with Turn The Page and Zephyra the other major contenders.
“Tonight, I considered going forward at the start, but then I thought that there might be too much speed (inside of her) and it turned out that there was a lot of speed. So, I was laughing early. She couldn’t have been travelling any better at the 300m; she was just cruising.
“On the line, you would probably think that she had only just won. But she is not that type of horse who runs away from them.”