Contesting next Friday night’s $100,000 J. P. Stratton Cup and the $450,000 TABtouch WA Pacing Cup a fortnight later are on the agenda for tough and talented six-year-old Little Darling after she had scored a splendid victory in the $150,000 Westral Mares Classic at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“If she pulls up well, she will run in the Stratton Cup, and then how many opportunities do you get to race in a $450,000 event, so the Pacing Cup is definitely on the radar,” said Little Darling’s trainer Cameron Ross.
Little Darling was the $2.20 favourite from the favourable No. 2 barrier on Friday night, and she gave a strong frontrunning performance to win by a length and a half from the $4.40 third fancy Penny Black, with Nase Vira ($13) a half-length farther back in third place.
Little Darling rated 1.56.5 over the 2536m journey, with the final three quarters being run in 28.8sec., 28sec. and 29.1sec., and the victory boosted her record to 58 starts for 13 wins, 23 placings and $408,968 in prizemoney.
She was bred and is owned by Barry Howlett, who is holidaying in Bali. Moments after Jocelyn Young had driven Little Darling to victory, Ross received a text message from Howlett, which said: “Unbelievable and well done. Maybe a Pacing Cup hope, and I have a brother to her in work, and I think he will be nearly as good as Little Darling.”
Last year’s Mares Classic winner Aardiebytheseaside ($4.20) began from the No. 4 barrier, and she raced three wide for the first 500m before working in the breeze and wilting in the closing stages to finish fifth.
Ross was full of praise for Little Darling, saying: “She is looking better and is getting stronger every week she races.”
For Ross, this was his second group 1 success as a trainer, following the win of Steno in the $125,000 Gold Bullion final for two-year-old fillies at Menangle in April 2022.
“Group 1s are extremely hard to win,” said Ross, who now has a training record of two group 1 wins and five placings; one placing in a group 2 event, and two wins and three placings in group 3 company.
Young has a record as a driver and/or a trainer of two wins and eight placings in group 1 features; three wins and seven placings in group 2s and ten wins and seven placings in group 3s.
Little Darling is likely to race against Penny Black in the Stratton Cup and WA Pacing Cup. Penny Black, trained by Michael Young (no relation to Jocelyn), was most impressive in finishing second to Little Darling on Friday night when she began from the inside of the back line and was held in a watertight pocket three back on the pegs until Emily Suvaljko was able to ease her off the pegs about 370m from home.
But Penny Black was then held up behind horses and was eighth on the home turn before finally getting into the clear and charging home, out four wide.
