Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
“Getting to the front was mission accomplished,” said trainer Jocelyn Young after driving Steno to a most impressive victory in the $50,000 Christmas Belles at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Steno was the $5.10 second fancy from the No. 4 barrier, with most pundits declaring the brilliant Wonderful To Fly a “good thing” from the prized No. 1 barrier in the 2130m group 3 event.
Young drove Steno out hard and the mare beat Wonderful To Fly for early speed and led clearly after 100m. After a lead time of 36.9sec. Steno showed the way from Cyclone Charlotte ($9.50) in the breeze, and the $1.40 favourite Wonderful To Fly trailing the pacemaker.
“Cyclone Charlotte was kicking the wheels, and Steno was getting keener and keener, and I was trying to make sure I was keeping Wonderful To Fly held up on my back,” said Young.
After a third quarter of 28.2sec. Steno sped over the final 400m in 27.8sec. and coasted to a three-length victory over the $101 outsider Three Rumours, who was eighth at the bell before flashing home with an inside run. Cyclone Charlotte finished third, with Wonderful To Fly, who got into the clear approaching the home turn, finishing a well-beaten fifth.
Steno’s win made amends for Young’s unlucky sixth with The Amber Hare behind Eighteen Carat in the Christmas Belles 12 months earlier when she was blocked for a clear run.
The Amber Hare, owned and trained by Young, resumed after a spell in Friday night’s race, and Young had to receive special permission from the stewards to drive the New South Wales-bred Steno, who is owned by her breeder Diane Kelly. The Amber Hare, driven by Kyle Symington, raced in sixth position and finished eighth.
Young said that the main target for Steno in her current campaign was the $50,000 Laurie Kennedy Pace on February 9. Steno, who is by the American sire Sweet Lou, is the ninth foal out of former star mare Lady Waratah, who won four group 1 events and was retired with a record of 36 starts for 20 wins, eight placings and $564,770.
Steno, the winner of the group 1 Gold Bullion final for three-year-old fillies at Menangle in April 2022, has earned $284,088 from 15 wins and ten placings.
Trainer-reinsman Shane Young, Jocelyn Young’s uncle, said he was disappointed with Wonderful To Fly’s performance, and the mare would now go for a spell and have three or four weeks off. “She got out in plenty of time but went below expectations,” he said.