Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Superstar filly Water Lou has drawn the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line of the $50,000 group 3 Daintys Daughter Classic at Gloucester Park on Friday night, but this distinct disadvantage is not causing leading reinsman Shannon Suvaljko any serious misgivings.
“We’ve got options,” he said. “We can come out hard or we can go back. I drove her at Gloucester Park last Saturday morning when she had a hit-out by herself.
“And that was the best work this preparation. She ran through the line (powerfully), and I couldn’t hold her after that and into the back straight. She ran quick times, and I was most impressed with her.
“Barrier nine is not ideal, and hopefully we don’t get that in the Oaks (a fortnight later). This will be a good test for her before running in the Oaks over 2536m. She needs to work up to that distance, and in recent races (over 2130m) I have been keeping her going after the finish and continuing into the back straight. I have been targeting the Oaks for a while.”
Trainers Kim Prentice, Colin Brown and Aiden De Campo each has two runners in Friday night’s race — with Prentice faring the best with Soho Honey Rider (Mitch Miller) and Soho Vesper Lind (Gary Hall Jnr) drawing barriers No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
Soho Vesper Lind has finished strongly to win at Gloucester Park (1730m) and Pinjarra (2185m) at her past two starts, beating Soho Honey Rider (third at Pinjarra, and second at Gloucester Park).
Brown’s runners Relatively Arma (Emily Suvaljko, barrier three) and Xceptional Arma (Maddison Brown, barrier four) are racing keenly and should be prominent, while De Campo’s runners (Miss Hepburn (barrier six) and Copy Cat Queen (seven) have each won three times since resuming from spells.
Trent Wheeler will handle Copy Cat Queen, and De Campo has opted to drive Miss Hepburn, saying that there’s not much between the two fillies.
An interesting runner is the New Zealand-bred Irresistible, who will be driven by Deni Roberts for champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond.
Irresistible, a winner at one of her eight starts in New Zealand, faces a stern first-up test from out wide at barrier eight. However, she impressed with a splendid win in a 2150m trial at Byford on Sunday morning when she took the lead after 200m, set the pace and won, untouched, by two lengths from smart colt Hold The Ammo. She rated 1.59 after final quarters of 29.7sec. and 28.8sec.
“She was impressive, gave me a good feel, and ran a good time,” said Roberts.
Roberts is also looking forward for a strong showing from the Ray Williams-trained Sister Cherie, who will begin from barrier four in the $27,000 SEFS, You Name It, We Fund It Pace.
Sister Cherie, a winner at seven of her 26 starts, caught the eye last Friday night when she was seventh on the pegs at the bell before running home strongly to finish third behind Castella Dellacqua and Zephyra.
“Sister Cherie had a chequered passage and made up ground,” said Roberts. “She has good gate speed and is in with a chance.”
One of Sister Cherie’s chief rivals in an open affair is expected to be the polemarker Nase Vira, who is racing keenly for trainer-reinsman Dylan Egerton-Green with close seconds to Loch Tay and Water Lou at two of her three appearances after resuming from a spell.
This will be the first time Nase Vira has begun from the No. 1 barrier. She possesses good gate speed and has led and won (from barrier three) at Gloucester Park.
The Mike Reed-trained Montana Glory will have many admirers when she starts from the inside of the back line, immediately behind Nase Vira.
After wins at three of her first four appearances after resuming from a spell, Montana Glory was the $1.80 favourite in a 2130m event last Friday night when she began from the No. 2 barrier and made a spirited but unsuccessful bid for the early lead before racing without cover and fading to ninth behind the frontrunning Castella Dellacqua.
“She is capable of winning this week,” said reinsman Shannon Suvaljko. “She did too much work last week when I thought the lead was there, but it wasn’t. She should get the right run this week.”