Every racing carnival needs its headline horse, that special individual who creates a frisson of anticipation and excitement.
This Autumn in Perth that horse is Machine Gun Gracie, the giant daughter of Maschino who swept to victory in the Group Two WA Derby yesterday to confirm her talent is the equal of her stature.
For lovers of the Thoroughbred a special kind of respect is reserved for Derby winners.
It's always an extra feather in the cap of a staying filly when she can “beat the boys” to win a Derby, and WA has seen its share of such exceptional females.
In fact the inaugural running of the race was won by the filly Harridan in 1888.
WA Hall Of Fame WA racing identity and breeder Bob Peters has enjoyed great success in the Derby over the years with homebred fillies from his extraordinary broodmare band.
This year a small but select field of seven contested the western Classic and four of them were fillies.
After an intimidating display of front running stamina and speed which saw her claim the Natasha Stakes/Oaks double for trainer Justine Erkelens, Machine Gun Gracie was chasing a hattrick of stakes victories and had the 2400m box well and truly ticked.
It was going to take something special from a rival to keep her name off the Derby honour roll.
Connections of the Melvista Stakes winner Sail Session were hoping he would provide exactly that.
The handsome son of Sessions was chasing a fourth straight win for trainer Dan Morton and had been impressive in the Melvista. He was clearly the superior male of his year and a quality individual - but would this prove a bridge too far?
The intriguingly named Maxwhooshtapin (Pride Of Dubai) added genuine interest after an eye catching closing effort in the Melvista. Being by Pride Of Dubai, due respect had to be paid to that sire's extraordinary versatility - they sprint, they stay, some of them can do both at the same time.
This would be the Derby's fairytale victory if it came to pass - the horse was an $11,000 online buy for his trainer Misty Bazeley, the talented horsewoman chasing her first Group win - as was jockey Luke Cambell.
If “Max ”could spring a surprise it would be the feelgood story of the carnival.
Dan Morton's second runner Net Zero was aiming to give his sire A Lot back to back wins in the Derby, after A Lot Of Good Men won in 2024 for the son of three time Us/Canadian champion sire Tapit.
A brace of Playing God fillies were there to fly the flag for WA"s champion sire.
Attracting a steady trickle of support from punters steering away from the unbackable favourite was Funchal, the Williams /Pike factor adding to the appeal of this promising filly.
She hadn’t run a bad race in her six start career. Team Williams had tried a couple of gear / tactics changes in the Oaks - the filly had laid down a challenge to Machine Gun Gracie, and while that hadn't paid off, Funchal had stayed on bravely. Ridden more quietly in her more familiar pattern she had a better chance, reasoned the hopeful punters.
Doug Harrison's Noahquintilly was the other representative for Playing God and she had also run creditably in the Oaks, though it was hard to make a case for her chances of upsetting the favourite.
Rounding out the small but select field was the second Williams runner Summer's Legacy, a homebred for WA's Lynward Park by their Snitzel son Bondi from the good producing Serheed mare Aunt Lydia.
The big Ascot crowd sent Machine Gun Gracie to the post as the hottest of favourites.
When the gates opened Shaun O'Donnell coolly guided the giant filly to the rail where she assumed her customary control.
But Noahquintilly had her own ideas about that and was proving a real handful for Shaun McGruddy, who had little choice but to let the fired up filly slide to the lead.
And so the small field settled into position quickly.
Maxwhooshtapin had the tail of Machine Gun Gracie in third while Lucy Fiore on Sail Session had taken up a lovely position on the rail in fourth. Funchal and Summer's Legacy sat back as expected.
Noahquintilly eagerly ran them along and was going to make it a true staying test as the furlongs slipped away. Approaching the home turn Maxwhooshtapin was the first to appear under pressure and was quickly out of contention as Machine Gun Gracie eased out, took aim at Noahquintilly and imperiously swept her aside. Funchal was running on and Sail Session, who had been given every conceivable chance, was asked for his effort. He responded, but it was clear the tank was running on empty.
Machine Gun Gracie unleashed another display of complete dominance. The gifted natural stayer won as easy as you like by almost two lengths from Funchal who boxed on valiantly into second, while Sail Session held down third place.
With her Derby triumph Machine Gun Gracie advances her record to 4 wins from 6 starts and $550,700 in earnings.
Since being beaten a lip in the WA 1,000 Guineas she has strung together three stakes wins and hasn't looked like being beaten. Her prospects going forward are exciting indeed.
For her Muchea based trainer Justine Erkelens it was another three-year-old Classic trophy to add to her ever-growing collection.
“She's immature, she really has no idea what she's doing yet” said Justine after the big girl returned to scale to the applause of an awestruck crowd.
“She's like a big puppy, she's really just playing at the moment - let's see her in six months time” she continued, sounding an ominous note for future rivals.
“I'm not sure where we will go next, it's a good question! - but she'll go for a spell now and the owners, we'll all get together and discuss it.
“I keep saying it, but a horse this big shouldn't be able to do what she does, she's amazing.
“There are some first-time owners in her. Sometimes new owners don't realize how lucky they are to get a horse like this.”
Machine Gun Gracie's sire Maschino is currently enjoying a great run of success.
Highlighting the class and versatility of the handsome son of Encosta de Lago is the fact that his outstanding son Jokers Grin will soon take his place as a great local hope in the five-million-dollar Quokka sprint.
Machine Gun Gracie was bred by J and C Kelly and consigned as part of the Scenic Lodge (As Agent) 2023 Perth Magic Millions draft, where Erkelens in partnership with John Chalmers Bloodstock went to $45,000 to purchase the upstanding youngster.
She is the ninth stakes winner for her sire.
Machine Gun Gracie's dam Gracie May is a four-time winning Written Tycoon mare successful from 1300m to 2200m, and her three foals to date have all been winners. Machine Gun Gracie, her third, is the first by Maschino.
The family maintains a high percentage of winners to runners and goes back to the classy Argentinian bred mare Libia (Ringaro) who was imported into this part of the world and won a stakes race at Flemington before going to stud. Her daughter Abenezra (Rory's Jester) has founded a successful line in New Zealand, including among her immediate descendants the stakes-winner Pennacchio (Align), dam of top-class Hong Kong sprinter Full Of Beauty (Darci Brahma).
The family has also produced stakes-winner Strada Cavallo, dam of this season’s Group I placed filly Powers of Opal, who was second in the VRC Oaks during the spring.
Gracie May produced a colt last spring by Universal Ruler and then went back to him again.
Maschino stands at Alwyn Park Stud and would appear to offer breeders great value at a fee of $8,800.
