Now she has good prospects of setting the pace and winning the $150,000 group event over 2536 meters at Gloucester Park on Friday evening with six-year-old Little Darling (Art major), who lacks Steno’s sheer brilliance, but makes up for it with her fierce determination and excellent fighting skills.
Little Darling, trained by Cameron Ross, has secured a favorable position at barrier two, and Young will be keen to win the start and dictate the terms at the front.
Little Darling warmed up for the big race in style with an impressive performance last Friday evening as she worked into the wind before breaking away from her rivals to take an emphatic win over Heavenly Gipsy in a prelude, posting a score of 1.56.5 over 2130 meters after the final quarters of 27.9 seconds. and 28.2 sec.
“I didn’t mean to do all the work in the wind, but she did it pretty comfortably,” Young said.
Ross was delighted with Little Darling’s performance, saying: “I would describe her as an old school horse; the harder she races, the better she goes. She just comes back and loves racing every week.”
“Little Darling and Steno are very different horses. Steno is a more new school who needs a break between runs and is very fast, while Little Darling is more versatile and quite tough. She doesn’t have the electric speed that Steno had. Barry Howlett (owner) sent Little Darling to me to train tip-top, and she is a lovely calm horse.”
Little Darling’s winning prospects soared after super mare Penny Black pulled the inside of the back line and was in danger of being boxed in, and the brilliant Copy Cat Queen had the distinct disadvantage of starting from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line.
The fearsome Aardiebytheseaside, who set the pace from barrier two and won the Mares Classic 12 months ago, looms as Little Darling’s biggest threat. Little Darling, then prepared by Howlett, had a $21 chance from barrier five, running from seventh at the bell to finish fourth.
A winner in 21 of her 44 starts, Aardiebytheseaside is sure to give her supporters a great run for their money. She just doesn’t know how to run a bad race and seems ready to cross the finish line.
Aardiebytheseaside lost no admirers last Friday when she finished second behind Penny Black in the Group 2 Norms Daughter Classic over 2130m. She enjoyed an ideal passage, one out and one back, and took a small lead 220 meters from home. She was disadvantaged when the tire of the deviating wheel deflated on the final straight.
“She was great at the last start and I’m very happy with her,” said her driver Deni Roberts. “The draw has leveled this week’s race a bit and we have an advantage over some of her main rivals, including Penny Black. And she is loving the journey (2536m).”
Aardiebytheseaside is prepared by champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond, who were successful in the first Mares Classic in 2012 when Luke McCarthy rode Baby Bling to victory over Aussie Made Lombo.
Brilliant sit sprinter Copy Cat Queen, a winner on eight of her 13 starts in her current campaign, faces a tough task from her outside barrier, with her trainer-leader Aiden De Campo noting: “She’s going to struggle from there.”
The prospects of another four-year-old, Nase Vira, improved when she cleared the prized No. 1 barrier. “She fought really well in the last start (when she finished third behind Penny Black and Aardiebytheseaside),” said trainer-leader Dylan Egerton-Green.
“We’ll go through the gate and see what happens,” Egerton-Green said. “There’s speed with her outside, and she’ll probably be better off with a helmet.”
Pinjarra trainer-leader Shane Young will be hoping for a third time lucky scenario when he lines up on barrier two on the back line with his excellent six-year-old Wonderful To Fly, a winner of 33 races and $855,493 in prize money.
Wonderful To Fly was the $1.45 favorite when she set the pace to finish second to Simply Shaz in the 2023 Mares Classic, and last year she was behind the leaders Aardiebytheseaside to finish second.
For full race entries, click here.
Through Ken Casellas, for Gloucester Park
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