Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Early this year Paula Petricevich was so disappointed with Paroquet, a four-year-old mare she had bred, that she advertised her for sale at just $3000.
She received a few tentative nibbles, but nobody was willing to outlay this small price to buy her. Eventually, Serpentine trainer Michael Munro took an interest in the daughter of American sire Shadow Play, and he agreed to lease the mare, who had managed one win (by a head over Classnsmart at Northam in July last year) and two placings from 20 starts.
Paroquet’s first 14 starts had produced two thirds, at Wagin and Narrogin, and Petricevich, a veterinary nurse, despaired that she would ever develop into a reasonable performer.
However, in a remarkable transformation for the 49-year-old Munro, Paroquet has matured into a quality pacer who continued her rise as one of the State’s smartest mares with a dashing victory in the DTS Security Fence Specialists Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Paroquet was the $1.50 favourite from the No. 1 barrier when she simply outclassed her rivals by setting a solid pace and winning by 13 metres from her stablemate Sheza Bromac, the $5.50 second fancy who trailed the leader throughout.
Illustrating what a bargain that has been missed is the fact that Munro has now given Paroquet eleven starts for six wins, two seconds and a third for earnings of $53,948.
Paroquet has a parrot mouth (a form of an overshot jaw) and was named by Petricevich after a variety of a small parrot. She is the tenth and last foal out of the unraced Walton Hanover mare Smooth Moven.
Paroquet’s victory gave reinsman Shannon Suvaljko his 100TH winner for the season, and he celebrated this milestone by landing a double with Queeninthecorner ($1.20) and Patrikiar ($12) at Northam on Saturday night.