Latest News

  Ken Casellas | Photo: Gloucester Park Harness Racing

Three-year-old filly Dontbesillychilli is no slouch, and she notched her seventh win from 24 starts when Dylan Egerton-Green drove her to a smart all-the-way win in the $20,250 Garrard’s Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

The $1.30 favourite led from the No. 1 barrier, and after a slow lead time of 39sec. and moderate opening quarters of the final mile in 31.8sec. and 30.3sec. she sped over the final 400m sections in 28.5sec. and 27.9sec. on her way to scoring by two lengths from $7 chance Extraordinary Mary, rating 1.59 over the 2130m.

The $150,000 WA Oaks on October 14 is the long-range plan for Dontbesillychilli, according to her Bunbury trainer Sarah Wall. Also on the agenda is likely to be the $100,000 Westbred Classic for fillies on September 9.

Dontbesillychilli is by American sire Western Terror and is out of the former smart mare Justlikechocolate, who earned $188,937 from 13 wins and 19 placings from 48 starts. Dontbesillychilli is a half-sister to the Wall-trained six-year-old Alta Rhett, whose all-the-way win at Gloucester Park the previous Friday took his record to 82 starts for 12 wins and 25 placings for stakes of $148,202.

Dontbesillychilli got his name from the late Mark Forster, a friend of the Wall family and a stable client who enjoyed plenty of success with his first horse, Wesley.

“Mark was a part-owner of many of our horses, and he drew up a list of six names for our Western Terror filly,” said Wall. Sadly, Forster was struck down by cancer and he died at the age of 34 in December 2020.

Wall and her husband Chris, who bred the filly, submitted Forster’s list of names to the RWWA registrar, who accepted the No. 1 choice Dontbesillychilli. “I don’t think there was any reason behind the name,” said Mrs Wall. “I think Mark just liked the sound of it.”

Dontbesillychilli completed a splendid family double, with Mrs Wall’s father Terry Keenan owning and training two-year-old filly Spiritofanangel, who won the opening event at Bunbury’s Donaldson Park early on Friday afternoon. Keenan is well remembered as the breeder, owner and trainer of Sir Jasper who won 14 races on South-West tracks between 2005 and 2013.