Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Star New Zealand-bred three-year-old Chase Me is showing steady improvement on his path to developing into a leading contender for the $200,000 WA Derby over 2536m on October 31.
He was the $1.10 favourite who began smartly for Gary Hall Jnr from the No. 5 barrier to set the pace and stroll to victory over smart four-year-old Mikis Pride and six-year-old mare Betterthan Secret.
Chase Me, trained by Gary Hall Snr, is undefeated at his first three appearances in WA, scoring easily over 2130m at Gloucester Park. His six New Zealand starts at Alexandra Park produced three wins, two seconds and a third placing, and he now has earned $105,911 in prizemoney.
After dashing over the final two 400m sections on Friday night in 27.9sec. and 28.4sec. Chase Me rated a smart 1.56.1.
“It is nice to see that he is learning slowly and is steering a lot better because he was horrible in his first couple of starts here,” said Hall Jnr. “He has good ability and is a definite Derby prospect.”
Chase Me is by Downbytheseaside and is the fifth foal out of Falcon Seelster mare Delicata, who won twice from 22 starts for stakes of $10,856. Delicata’s first foal Chase Auckland raced 35 times for 14 wins, nine placings and $809,156 in stakes.