$1.5 million MCA Polytack Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) hopeful Bravo Centurion warmed up for his Group 1 target in less than two weeks with a workmanlike win at Monday’s Lark Hill trials.
Hayden King
Long-time Listed $500,000 TABtouch Placid Ark Stakes (1200m) favourite Wind And The Lion justified months of lofty wraps by landing the big feature on day one of the Pinnacles carnival.
Grant and Alana Williams yet again showed why they are the best in the West, presenting Storyville for a scintillating success in the Champion Fillies Stakes (1600m), securing a record seventh win in the race.
Australia’s leading trainer Ciaron Maher landed yet another Group 1 success this year by causing a boilover in the $1.5 million Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m) with Another Prophet.
Top trainer Simon Miller will have a team of three live chances in the Listed $500,000 TABtouch Placid Ark Stakes (1200m) as he seeks a record sixth win in Ascot’s prized event on day one of the Pinnacles.
With charming small towns, breathtaking national parks, and exciting events like the Geraldton Cup, you’ll find plenty to keep you busy.
Racing WA
The first day of the Pinnacles carnival has arrived and provides a chance for some of the best to rise to the top, headed by the Listed $500,000 TABtouch Placid Ark Stakes favourite Wind And The Lion.
Whether they are on or off the track, getting their hands dirty or dressing to the nines — the next five Saturdays will be the pinnacle of the WA racing calendar for every single person in this picture.
Co-trainer Sean Casey has all angles covered in pursuit of rich glory in Saturday’s Listed $500,000 TABtouch Placid Ark Stakes (1200m) at Ascot with top fancies Wind And The Lion and Siren Assault.
Some of WA’s best were on show at Ascot on the weekend, but their job to defend the local spoils has been made harder with 10 eastern states-trained horses booked for the Pinnacles carnival.
This year’s Perth Cup champion Casino Seventeen produced a freakish first-up flurry, flying to victory over several highly touted middle-distance horses to claim the $300,000 Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes (1400m).
Via Sistina has sustained her claim to being Australia’s best racehorse with victory in Saturday’s Group 1 TAB Champion Stakes (2000m) at Flemington, relieving the decision not to run in the Melbourne Cup.
Punters are rallying behind last-start Eurythmic Stakes winner Comfort Me, with the gallant veteran firming to outright $3.40 TABtouch favouritism for the Group 2 $300,000 Lee Steere Stakes (1400m) at Ascot.
Star filly Treasurethe Moment has again triumphed over arch-rival Powers Of Opal for the second time in less than a week, storming away with Thursday’s Group 1 Crown Oaks (2500m) at Flemington.
Now seasoned talent Pinny Tiger holds all the aces for Friday’s Group 1 $450,000 TABtouch WA Pacing Cup (2536m), yet faces a torturous tactical dilemma for WA’s most revered pacing race: Stick or twist?
London’s Image delivered a bombshell result in the Listed $125,000 TABtouch Burgess Queen Stakes (1400m) at Ascot on Tuesday, leading throughout to provide trainer Ryan Hill with an emotional black-type win.
With nine broken ribs and punctured lungs, eventually passing out from lack of breath, you could hardly blame Jenae Grigsby for turning her back on the racing industry altogether.
She’d been promising that she might be, but Super Smink relieved any doubts about the top-line mare being back to her best when ripping home to take Saturday’s $200,000 Hosemasters Asian Beau Stakes (1400m)
Harry Perks’ breeding dynasty continued to show endless stamina as Goldrush Guru claimed the South Australian’s third Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington on Saturday.
Punters have latched onto budding speedster Bravo Centurion for the Group 3 $200,000 TABtouch Prince Of Wales Stakes (1000m) at Ascot, with a string of big bets hammering the four-year-old into favouritism.
Leading Melbourne Cup hopeful Onesmoothoperator has had doubt cast over his fitness for Tuesday’s $8 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) after failing a veterinary examination on Friday morning due to a heel cut.
West Aussie mare Amelia’s Jewel gets her biggest chance at Group 1 glory on the Eastern Seaboard in Saturday’s $1 million Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington (1600m).
Hotshot WA mare Alsephina’s Melbourne campaign reaches a crux in Saturday’s $1 million Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington, with the six-year-old hitting the lucrative feature in career-best form.
