Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Highly-promising two-year-old Crowd Control emerged as a leading candidate for the $100,000 Pearl Classic on August 26 when he scored a stylish victory in the $20,250 Garrard’s Service With Integrity Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“He will probably have a week off and then get ready for the Pearl and the $225,000 Westbred Classic (on September 16),” said trainer-reinsman Kim Prentice after Crowd Control, the $1.85 favourite, was not extended in defeating the $2.90 second fancy Soho Confidential.
Star Lavra ($4.20) set an extremely slow pace with a lead time of 40.5sec. and opening quarters of 33.7sec. and 31.5sec. before the final 400m sections whizzed by in 27.8sec. and 27.9sec.
Soho Confidential, who was eased off the pegs and into the breeze 1250m from home, got to the front with 400m to travel before Prentice sent Crowd Control to the lead at the 200m.
Prentice prides himself as a good judge of horseflesh, and he selected Crowd Control at the 2021 APG Perth yearling sale when he was able to purchase him for $18,000 and then syndicated him to a bunch of stable clients.
“I put a lot of time into yearlings, and I love buying yearlings,” he said. “I have had a lot of nice young horses, and Crowd Control is right up there with them. He has high speed and stamina.
“It didn’t bother me how tonight’s race was run. I was content to drive him just how the race unfolded.”
Crowd Control is by American stallion Control The Moment and is out of the Barnett Hanover mare Just Visiting, who won twice (at Bunbury) as a three-year-old in 2015 before being retired with earnings of $10,398 from her two wins and two placings from 25 starts.
Just Visiting is out of Royal Tour, the dam of eight winners, including Truckers Ruffnut (53 starts for 20 wins, 14 placings and $249,770), Tuxedo Tour (70 starts for 15 wins, 21 placings and $194,596), American Bullitt (67 starts for eight wins, 19 placings and $81,690) and Give Us A Wave (35 starts for ten wins, 12 placings and $134,598).