Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Star reinsman Shannon Suvaljko has won the Sales Classic for two-year-old fillies three times and he is bubbling with confidence that Lion Queen will give him another victory in the $100,000 APG feature event at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“I have driven some very good two-year-old fillies, but Lion Queen stands out as the best I have handled,” he said. “She is better than my Sales Classic winners Classical Gas (1992), Jupiters Darling (2005) and Soho Interceptor (2018).
“Lion Queen is really classy, she is strong and she is fast. She is quick out and I will be aiming to lead. But I don’t care if she is caught in the breeze. She would still win, I reckon.”
Suvaljko is hoping that he has made the right decision in choosing to drive Lion Queen from the favourable No. 2 barrier over the 1730m journey — ahead of veteran trainer Mike Reed’s other runner, the unbeaten filly Water Lou, who has been handled by Suvaljko in all her three victories, including in a Sales Classic qualifying heat when she set the pace and won by 17m at a 1.57.8 rate.
Suvaljko also drove Lion Queen to an effortless heat victory (by 16m at a 2.0.4 rate). Lion Queen’s gross time of 2min. 9.4sec. was considerably slower than Water Lou’s gross time of 2.6.6.
Water Lou will be driven by champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line.
Thirteen months ago Reed had two runners in the Sales Classic final, Cabsav and Temukas Girl, with Suvaljko opting to drive Temukas Girl, the $1.65 favourite from the No. 1 barrier, and Hall taking the drive behind the $16 chance Cabsav. Temukas Girl set the pace and wilted to third, with Cabsav finishing strongly from the one-out, one-back position to win the race.
Suvaljko said that Lion Queen could have run much faster in her heat if he had asked her for a stronger effort. “She ran home in 27.8sec. and I had a lap full of horse at the finish. She could have run another quick quarter after the finish. She ran home with final quarters of 27.7sec. and 27.1sec. when she won easily at Pinjarra at her previous start.”
Hall, who has won the Sales Classic with Soho Cannes (2011) and Red Hot Roxy (2016), said he was more than happy to be competing in Friday night’s race but conceded that Water Lou was likely to be tested from the outside barrier.
Champion reinsman Chris Lewis will be attempting to win the Sales Classic for fillies for the eighth time — after successes with Miss Booth (1991), Parthenon (1994), Backin A Jiffy (2000), Hindu Sitara (2003), Amongst Royalty (2006), Fidelious Charm (2008), Tenniele Erin (2017) and Double Expresso (2019). He will drive the Katja Warwick-trained World Secret, who should enjoy a comfortable trip after starting from the inside of the back line.
Xceptional Arma, trained and driven by Colin Brown, has sound place prospects from the No. 3 barrier. Xceptional Arma had a tough run when a fighting half-head second to the frontrunning Princess Katie in a qualifying heat.