Smart New Zealand-bred filly Newsy turned the tables on her arch rival Always An Angel when Dylan Egerton-Green drove her to an all-the-way victory over that filly in the $50,000 Diamond Classic final at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Newsy, owned by Team Bond and prepared by leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, had worked hard in the breeze outside the pacemaker Joelene in a qualifying heat and finished a close second to the fast-finishing Always An Angel.
In the final, Newsy was a hot favourite at $1.40 after drawing the prized No. 1 barrier, with the Justin Prentice-trained Always An Angel the second fancy at $5.50 from the awkward No. 6 barrier.
Newsy was first into stride and was able to amble through the lead time in 38sec. before Gary Hall Jnr urged Always An Angel forward, three wide, from sixth early to move to the breeze after 600m.
Hall did not apply pressure on the leader until he issued his strong challenge with 550m to travel. Then the two star fillies were locked together in a titanic struggle over the final 400m, with Newsy prevailing by a half-head.
Our Star Billing ($19) trailed the leader all the way before finishing strongly to be third, a length ahead of the fast-finishing Bettor Beach Belle. The winner rated 1.56.7 over 2130m, after covering the final 800m in 56.4sec.
Newsy, by Bettors Delight, is the third foal out of the unraced Art Major mare Ultimate Art. All of her 12 starts have been in Western Australia for seven wins, three placings and stakes of $71,805.
by Ken Casellas