Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
New Zealand-bred five-year-old Watching Our Coin made a successful debut at Gloucester Park when he scored a runaway victory in the 1730m Steelos Restaurant Pace on Friday night.
He was simply following in the footsteps of his close relation OK Windermere, who won at his Gloucester Park debut when he scored an easy victory in a 2503m stand on April 7, 2006. Two starts after that OK Windermere dead-heated with Patches in the Easter Cup — the second of his six wins from 20 WA starts before continuing his career in America.
Watching Out Coin, who won once (in a 2600m stand at Addington in February 2022) from 28 New Zealand starts, had performed well at his first six WA starts, five at Pinjarra and one at Bunbury, for three wins and three placings.
He was the $3.10 second fancy on Friday night when his task was made easier with the $1.95 favourite Mighthavtime galloping badly from the No. 1 barrier and dropping back to the rear before finishing tenth in the field of eleven.
Beat The Bank, an $8.50 chance from barrier two, led for the first 200m before Gary Hall Jnr, driving Watching Our Coin hard from barrier five, took the gelding to the front.
Watching Our Coin set the pace and dashed over the final 400m in 28.3sec. to defeat Beat The Bank by four lengths at a 1.57 rate. He is the sixth winner out of Christian Cullen mare Sheza Windermere, who was unplaced at her five starts as a four-year-old in 2006.
“If he sharpens up, he will be a much better horse,” said trainer Michael Young. “And he probably races better in the breeze than in front. He raced out of his class tonight, and he can race in the same class and win two more times before going up in class.”
Young also enjoyed a win on Friday night with his two-year-old Lazarus colt On The Back Foot, a $3 chance driven by Joseph Suvaljko who raced in the breeze before beating Star Of The Galaxy by two and a half lengths in a 1780m event at Northam.
Young also is enjoying his duties as football coach of the South Mandurah reserves side in the Peel league, with his side boasting a healthy percentage of 221.64 after winning eight of its first nine matches.