Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Rich feature events for three-year-old fillies are on the agenda for champion pacer Water Lou, who maintained her superb form with a remarkable victory in the $50,000 Westral Diamond Classic at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Water Lou notched her seventh successive victory, after surviving a protest, and boosted her earnings to $313,013 from 16 wins and two second placings from 20 starts.
“She will now have a couple of weeks off before being prepared for the feature events for fillies later this year,” said trainer Mike Reed, who was referring to the $100,000 Westbred Classic on September 6 and the $200,000 WA Oaks on October 4.
Water Lou was surprisingly outstanding value as the $2.70 second favourite from the inside barrier on the second line in the field of twelve, with Miss Hepburn, the polemarker and winner of two races from 12 starts, the $2.30 favourite.
Water Lou was drawn to begin immediately behind Miss Hepburn, and there was considerable pre-race conjecture regarding the tactics star reinsman Shannon Suvaljko was going to employ, whether he should ease off the pegs and into the clear in the first lap or whether to trail the certain pacemaker Miss Hepburn and hope to get off the inside later in the race.
Miss Hepburn went fast in front early, with a lead time of 35.9sec. and an opening 400m section of 29.8sec. before slackening the pace with a slow second quarter of 31.1sec.
Obviously, that slow quarter was a concern for Suvaljko, who eased off the pegs with Water Lou with 900m to travel. This caused Chilli Punter (Kyle Symington) to be checked and pushed outwards, with Grand Couteau (Dylan Egerton-Green) contacting the off-side sulky wheel of Chilli Punter and breaking into a gallop.
The galloping Grand Couteau dropped back to a conspicuous last, and in the back straight Water Lou was checked and forced four wide. Water Lou then sprouted wings and charged to the front with 220m to travel before winning by just under a length from Miss Hepburn, with $13 chance Xceptional Arma ten metres farther back in third place after racing in the breeze.
The final quarter was run in 28sec. and Water Lou rated 1.56.5 over the 2130m. Grand Couteau finished solidly with an inside run and was hampered for room in finishing in seventh place.
Egerton-Green lodged a protest against the winner, alleging interference (indirect) in the front straight to receive the spell. After a lengthy hearing the stewards dismissed the protest.
The stewards considered that the incident occurred near the 900m, the margin between the two runners of 23.5m, the manner in which both horses finished off the race and in all the circumstances could not be satisfied that had the incident not occurred Grand Couteau would have finished ahead of Water Lou.
Suvaljko pleaded guilty of having caused interference and was suspended for twelve days. The stewards considered Suvaljko’s guilty plea, the mid-level degree of carelessness, the high level of interference, his good record, with his most recent suspension under the same rule being in June 2023, and having had more than 1200 drives since then.
“I’m very happy with her win,” said Reed. “This is the first time she has won, coming from behind. She was checked and pushed out wide in the back straight, and it’s very hard to make up ground when you’re out wide.”
Suvaljko praised Water Lou, saying: “Down the back straight she lost her momentum a bit, and I had to get her going again. Her point-to-point speed is very quick. She picked herself up and did a great job.”