New Pearce Racing stable addition Casa Rosada broke her maiden status second-up from a spell at Bunbury on Sunday when taking out the Ausmic Pest Control Maiden (1410m).
The three-year-old Husson filly finished unplaced as the $2.90 race favourite when failing to handle the Narrogin circuit first-up on February 21, however, she improved sharply to take out Sunday’s event in smart fashion.
Starting on the second line of betting at $3.80, Casa Rosada jumped from barrier three in a seven-horse field and was put straight into the box seat by in-form jockey Joseph Azzopardi before peeling off the fence approaching the home turn.
The flashy filly levelled up to race leader and short-price favourite, Puli ($1.55), at the 150-metre mark in the straight before pulling away over the concluding stages to score by almost two lengths.
Kendel’s Impact ($26) finished a further length-and-a-half away in third place.
The win was the first from seven career starts for Casa Rosada and the first of three on the day for Azzopardi, after having also combined with the Pearce yard for a winning double at last Wednesday’s Bunbury Stakes meeting.
Bunbury has been a happy hunting ground for the Pearces’ over the past week, with the stable’s seven runners returning three winners and two minor place-getters, including Superior Smile ($4.40) in Sunday’s $120,000 Listed Bunbury Cup (2019m).
The consistent gelding finished a neck third to Arctic Stream ($2.60) and only a nose from the runner-up, He’s A Parker ($9.50), to provide his fourth-consecutive country cup placing.
The Patronize five-year-old had placed in the Narrogin Cup (third), Albany Cup (second) and Esperance Cup (third) at his previous three starts leading into Sunday’s feature event.
[PHOTO: Western Racepix]