[PHOTO: Western Racepix]
Pearce Racing celebrated a red-letter day at Belmont on Saturday when preparing a winning treble which included the $200,000 Strickland Stakes (2000m).
Iron horse Let’s Galahvant took out the Group 3 feature after Oly’s Choice and Climb On Top produced a running double for the team earlier in the program, with stablemates Ginger Baker, Bird’s The Word and Super Romani also placing in their respective races.
Galah gelding Let’s Galahvant ($10) – a former $10,000 yearling purchase – further enhanced his incredible honour roll with a 12th race win and career-best performance when defeating $1.35 favourite Western Empire and boosting his career earnings to some $838,760.
Ridden by Chris Parnham, the five-year-old was having his first start beyond 1650m and settled one-out and one-back in running and travelled strongly into the straight before getting held up for clear running.
Parnham was forced to bide his time until the 150m mark but Let’s Galahvant dug in deep and let rip to finish powerfully and hit the lead at the 30m mark before pulling away to score by a neck.
Fellow Pearce-trained gelding Ginger Baker ($18) capped off the highlight by finishing a further three-quarter length away in third place.
Earlier in the day, the progressive Oly’s Choice ($1.70) earned himself a spring carnival assault when landing his fourth-straight win in the WA Spirit of Racing Awards – Nominations Now Open Handicap (1650m).
Ridden by William Pike, the Demerit five-year-old showed tactical versatility to lead up his eight-horse field before giving a strong kick on straightening and easing down late to defeat Desennea ($9.50) by just over a length.
It was the gelding’s final start in a brilliant first campaign since joining the Pearce yard, with his 11 outings netting four wins, two seconds, a third and 10 top-five finishes.
The following race saw Pike steer Climb On Top ($8.50) to victory in a nail-biting finish to the TABtouch Westspeed Platinum Winter Series Heat 3 (1300m) second-up from a spell, with stablemate Bird’s The Word ($10) not far away in third place.
Climb On Top – a Demerit four-year-old – appreciated a firmer surface and showed a strong turn of foot to reel in his rivals after settling four-back on the fence and appearing to need luck turning for home.
Pike elected to stay on the rail and the gelding hit the line brilliantly to edge out El Patron ($12) by a nose and bring up his fourth win from only 11 career starts, with Bird’s The Word a further half-length away in third.
The treble takes Pearce Racing to 70 wins with less than eight weeks remaining in the 2023/24 season – the second highest tally by a stable in WA.