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.
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.