There were a couple of nervous moments for Kurtis Pertab ahead of War Queen’s debut at Hawera on Sunday, but the filly brought her trial form to the races and delivered a tidy victory in the Grangewilliam Stud (1200m).
A daughter of Proisir, War Queen had a reputation for barrier woes and that almost continued at the Central Districts meeting, taking her time to link into barrier one. But, the filly eventually took her place and flew out when the gates opened, settling in the lead under Ace Lawson-Carroll.
War Queen travelled comfortably through the deteriorating track conditions and had her rivals off the bit turning for home, proving too sharp in the finish to score with ease by 1 ¾ lengths to Good Craic.
Pertab had recently taken over the filly’s training and was rapt, albeit relived to see her put it all together on raceday.
“I was really confident with her, but I brought three favourites down and didn’t have much luck earlier in the day,” he said. “Lucky Coral just pulled too hard over 2100m for the first time and Shamokin didn’t cop the wet track.
“I was a little bit nervous when she wouldn’t load away, she came to me with a reputation and hasn’t been in the stable for long but she’s shown really good ability at home and at the trials.
“She trialled very well on a heavy track, and we’ve had a fair bit of rain at home, so I knew she would handle the track today. That wasn’t a query, just her barrier manners on race day and she got a little bit warm with the delay.”
While the three-year-old filly skipped through the heavy ground, Pertab is wary of maintaining her condition when assessing how far she will go through this preparation.
“We’ll see how she comes through it, she’s a very small filly with not a lot to her and she came up from the South Island without a lot of condition,” he said.
“She doesn’t take a lot of work at home and we’re mindful of not doing too much, we’ll see how she travels home and eats over the next couple of days before making a plan. If she does, we’ll carry on.”
Bred and owned by Rich Hill Thoroughbreds, War Queen is out of a Group Two-winning mare Passchendaele, who has produced seven winners out of as many foals to race. Among her progeny is Group One performer Masetto and the promising Takeshi.
War Queen’s performance capped off a successful week for Pertab, having collected a winning double on his home track of Matamata on Wednesday.
The first of these came from Brilliant Battle, a son of War Decree that Pertab has always held in high regard. The gelding showed promise as a juvenile but was still searching for that elusive maiden success, one he couldn’t have done more impressively in the Ewen and Wilcox 1400.
In the hands of Jasmine Fawcett, Brilliant Battle showed good early speed and found the front from a wide barrier, setting a solid tempo along the back straight. The field was chasing from a long way out and the gelding just kept finding, putting seven lengths on the nearest horse (Bradley) at the post.
“It was about time really, he’s a horse I’ve always really liked, ever since I bought him as a foal,” Pertab said. “He’s had really good ability but just never had much luck, then first-up this preparation, I thought he was a certainty, but just didn’t have a very good trip there (at Woodville).
“We gave him one more chance and he’s finally delivered.
“He’ll definitely press on from here, he’s a three-year-old who has had a fair bit of racing having raced as a two-year-old and an early three-year-old, but he’s only had the two starts this time and he copped the track excellent.”
His stablemate Pistol Whip showed good improvement from his first-up effort to deliver in the final event of the day, the Matamata Glass and Joinery (1400m). Kate Hercock ensured the gelding was on the front foot from the outset, hunting to find the lead and controlled the tempo throughout.
Despite a strong challenge from Zanzibar, Pistol Whip showed his fighting spirit all the way to the line, holding on by a long neck.
“He’s a tough horse without a lot to him, but he’s got a lot of heart and a lot of try,” Pertab said. “It was nice to see him knuckle down and keep going because he’s such a laidback character.”
By Ocean Park out of a stakes performer Quattro Katie, Pistol Whip was purchased as a weanling by Pertab and was initially intended to be a trading prospect.
“He was purchased as a potential trade horse and was a nice, tidy type at the weanling sales. He’s out of a really good racemare, Quattro Katie, who was a stakes horse for Te Akau, but he just didn’t grow enough so we ended up racing him.
“He showed good ability at the trials, he’s only had four starts and he’s placed to Tuxedo whose turned out to be a very good horse. His second-up record is very good.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
