Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
There were discussions during the week among some of the nine owners of Has No Fear whether to sell the five-year-old mare, but no decision was reached.
Talented trainer-driver Jocelyn Young is one of the shareholders, and her offer last Monday to buy out her partners is still up in the air.
“Has No Fear is pretty special to me,” said Young after she had driven the mare, a $49.20 outsider, to a surprise victory in the 2130m Catalano Truck And Equipment Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night. This followed Young’s shock victory a week earlier when she drove $102.60 chance Disco Under Fire to victory over the favourite Rock Me Over.
“I have a share in Has No Fear and I tried to buy her on Monday,” said Young. “There was talk of selling her, so I made an offer, but I haven’t heard back. I am still keen to buy her.”
Has No Fear started from the outside of the back line on Friday night and Young quickly angled her across to the inside while the $2.60 favourite Blue Blazer was setting a fast pace with a slick lead time of 35.8sec. followed by quick quarters.
Has No Fear raced in seventh position, five back on the pegs. She was eighth at the bell and Young decided not to take advantage of a gap and get Has No Fear into the clear in the back straight. Instead, she persisted with the pegs passage — and her bold decision paid dividends as she was able to get Has No Fear off the pegs about 120m from home.
Has No Fear then sprinted strongly to take the lead at the 50m mark on her way to winning by just over two lengths from Leap Of Faith and Blue Blazer.
“I was very tempted to come off the pegs in the back straight,” Young admitted. “But I could see Micky G (Michael Grantham) who was ahead of me with Whatabro was looking to get off the pegs. So, I decided to stay where I was, and a few ahead of Whatabro came off the pegs.
“I then decided to keep on the inside and pray. She wasn’t super strong during the race, but I was really happy with the way she hit the line.”
Has No Fear’s win ended a losing sequence of 21, with her previous success being just over 14 months earlier. The WA-bred mare now boasts a splendid record of 69 starts for 11 wins, 19 placings and stakes of $273,020.
Has No Fear, by American sire Western Terror, was an outstanding juvenile who won the Sales Classic and the group 1 WA Oaks in early 2019, and since then she has been placed in four group feature events.
She finished third behind Millwood Molly and Balcatherine in the group 3 Johnson final in April 2020, second to Typhoon Tiff in the group 3 Schrader final in August 2020, third behind Balcatherine in the group 1 Mares Classic in November 2020, and second to Wainui Creek in the group 2 Empress Stakes last March.