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Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since 22-year-old Shannon Suvaljko drove Classical Gas to victory in the Sales Classic for two-year-old fillies in January 1992.

He went on to win this feature event with Jupiters Darling in 2005 and Soho Interceptor in 2018, and now he has high hopes of winning the $100,000 APG Sales Classic for two-year-old fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night with Temukas Girl.

Temukas Girl, prepared by Henley Brook trainer Mike Reed, has drawn perfectly at barrier No. 1 in the 1730m group 1 classic, and the tough Fly Like An Angel filly should carry too many guns for her nine rivals.

She gave a sample of her class when she began from barrier six, surged to the front after 400m and was untroubled to win a qualifying heat by two lengths from American Monarch on Tuesday of last week.

Temukas Girl covered the 1730m in 2min. 5sec. and rated 1.56.3, which compare most favourably with the 1.58.1 rate (gross time 2min. 7sec.) recorded by the other heat winner Between The Thorns.

Between The Thorns, trained and driven by Aiden De Campo, is handily drawn at barrier two, and she looms as the main rival for Temukas Girl. Between The Thorns started from barrier six in her heat in which she dashed to the front after 400m and went on to win by a length from the Cabsav, a stablemate of Temukas Girl.

Cabsav, a winner at her previous start (when she beat Dourado and Temukas Girl at a 1.59.8 rate over 1684m at Pinjarra) will start from the No. 6 barrier on Friday night.

De Campo has a good second-string runner in American Monarch, the only runner on the back line who will be driven by Dylan Egerton-Green. She made a sound debut in a heat last week when she raced without cover for much of the way and finished second to Temukas Girl.

“I was very happy with the runs of Between The Thorns and American Monarch,” said De Campo.