Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Talented mare Rumour Has It has been her own worst enemy, having twice stalled her career with self-inflicted injuries.
Now a rising six-year-old, Rumour Has It reappeared after a ten-month absence when she was the $2.70 favourite from the No. 1 barrier in the 2130m Perth’s No. 1 Station Nova 93.7 Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Driven with supreme confidence by master reinsman Chris Lewis, Rumour Has It (bred, owned and trained by Lewis’s wife Debra) showed that she has lost none of her exciting ability when she set the pace and romped to victory over $20 chance Alta Queen, with final quarters of 28.3sec. and 28.7sec.
“We’ve had issues with her injuries and this year we thought about putting her in foal,” said Lewis. “But she was looking so good in the paddock that we decided to give her another preparation.
“She seems quite sound at the moment, and this looked like a suitable race, and I was pretty happy with the No. 1 draw. She travelled nicely and went to the line with her ears pricked.
“She should have been a really good horse, but leg injuries forced her to miss feature events as a two and three-year-old. She jumped a gate in her early days and cracked a hind foot.”
Rumour Has It had six starts as a two-year-old for two wins (including the Western Crown Classic when she beat Black Jack Baby) and three seconds. Her leg injury then kept her on the sidelines for nine months.
Her four wins from eleven starts as a three-year-old included the Group 2 Daintys Daughter Classic in February 2021. But she missed the WA Oaks and other feature events after she badly damaged a hoof after treading on it.
She won at her only start as a four-year-old (in March 2022) before she was out of action for ten months before resuming with four runs last January for a win and two thirds. Then it was another ten months before she reappeared on Friday night.
Rumour Has It is by American sire Roll With Joe and is the eighth foal out of Christian Cullen mare Roustabout, who raced only twelve times for four wins, two seconds and $33,171. She won twice from three New Zealand starts, ran fourth at her only appearance in Victoria and then raced eight times in Western Australia for two wins and two seconds in 2006, with the highlight of her career being her victory over Precious Maiden and Sovereign Beejay in the Empress Stakes.
Rumour Has It now has raced only 23 times for nine wins, five seconds, two thirds and $105,002 in prizemoney.