Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Turn The Page emerged as a leading contender for the $75,000 Empress Stakes on April 19 when she made a superb return to racing after a 19-week absence with a brilliant win in the 2130m Team Bond Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“Her greatest asset is her strength and toughness,” said Deni Roberts after driving the New Zealand-bred four-year-old to a neck victory over Pocketful Of Opals, important ingredients for the 2536m Empress Stakes.
Turn The Page was produced in splendid condition by leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, who own the mare who was placed once from her two New Zealand starts in April 2023 and now has raced eleven times in Western Australia for eight wins and two second placings.
Turn the Page won the Group 3 Daintys Daughter Classic and finished second to August Moon in the WA Oaks last year before she was the only filly to contest the WA Derby in November, when she had no luck, racing in the breeze for the first 1100m and then breaking into a fierce gallop 250m from home and finishing last.
She certainly has the ability to compete against the best male pacers in the classic events for four-year-olds, including the rich Golden Nugget, late this year. She also will be one of the main chances in feature events for mares this year.
Turn The Page was the $2.10 favourite from out wide at barrier seven, with the polemarker Make Your Mark the second fancy at $2.75.
Make Your Mark was smartest to begin, while Roberts dashed Turn The Page forward with a three-wide burst to move to the breeze after a lap. Turn the Page sprinted over the final 400m in 28.7sec. and she swept to the front with 110m to travel and scored impressively from $19 chance Pocketful Of Opals and Make Your Mark, rating 1.58.6.
Roberts said that she did not attempt to wrest the lead from Make Your Mark when Turn the Page moved alongside the pacemaker after a lap. “I just wanted to get to the breeze,” she said. “Turn The Page had already done too much to get there, without having to challenge for the lead. I was quite happy to sit outside Make Your Mark.
“She will follow whatever speed; it doesn’t seem to bother her. You can be running two minutes or 1.56 and she feels the same. Going up in grade when they start running a bit quicker, I think you will see an even better version of her. Her heart rate tonight was 88. She does not use any extra energy than she needs to.”
Turn The Page is by former champion pacer Vincent and is the fifth foal out of the unraced Sands A Flyin mare Sheza Monkee, whose full-brother Monkey King was a brilliant performer who amassed $3,487,401 in stakes from 39 wins and 23 placings from 95 starts.
Monkey King won 17 group events in a remarkable career which included victories in the 2005 Great Northern Derby at Alexandra Park, the 2009 and 2010 New Zealand Cups at Addington and the Miracle Mile at Menangle in November 2009.