Sires With Winners - Friday April 4

Steven Ramsay and Julia Ritchie trained their 200th winner in the blue and white hooped colours of owner-breeder Sir Peter Vela when talented filly Passiflora led all the way in Saturday’s Happy Hire 3YO (1200m) at Wanganui.

At the annual Cartier European Horse Of The Year Awards ceremony at London's Dorchester Hotel, globetrotting Victorian bred mare Asfoora was awarded the honour of becoming Champion Sprinter for 2025, while Aussie bred sire Starspangledbanner produced both the Champion 2YO Colt and Filly of the year.

The cream rises to the top, so the saying goes - That was never more true than at Ascot yesterday, when WA’s leading jockey, stable and owner all made their presence felt in no uncertain terms - and there was a nice little twist in the tale!

When local trainer Jo-Anne Dalton put a saddle on Sestina for Sunday’s Gladvale Farms Winton Cup (1400m) at Ascot Park, she expected the $35,000 race to be little more than a pipe-opener ahead of the Cromwell Cup (2030m) next weekend – but the Lonhro mare had other ideas.

It's Perth's turn to bask in the national sporting spotlight as The Ashes gets underway and the first G1 of the Pinnacles Carnival is run at Ascot - the famous WATC Railway Stakes!

Brave Smash (Jpn) 3YO Brave Monarch posted his third successive win from just four starts at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday for the Chris and Corey Munce stable offering a timely reminder as to the merits of his sire whose first Yarraman Park conceived offspring will be headed to yearling sales in 2026.

It was the biggest win yet in the career of a budding superstar! - Three year old King Of Light continued his blaze of glory across the West Australian turf and made it five wins from five starts when he easily accounted for his rivals in the G2 WA Guineas at Ascot yesterday.

Winner of the Listed Bendigo Golden Mile earlier this year in April, five year-old Zoustar gelding Regal Zeus found winning form again on Sunday to take out the $200,000 Listed Kilmore Cup (1600m).

When Watch Me Rock scored a brilliant win as favourite in the Group I WATC Railway Stakes at Ascot on Saturday he became the first G1 winner for his sire Awesome Rock and also the first G1 winner in his immediate family which appears twice in upcoming 2026 yearling sales.

A capacity Railway field will line up for the first G1 of the Pinnacles Carnival of 2025 and as usual it's a cracker, with 16 runners (4 emergencies) engaged for Ascot's famous feature mile!