[PHOTO: Western Racepix]
Pearce Racing celebrated a red-letter day at Ascot on Wednesday when saddling up three winners, a second and a fourth from its five runners.
Black Fantasy ($3) ran a brave race in the opening race of the day, the Crown Perth Handicap (1400m), when storming home from behind an unsuitably-slow tempo to finish runner-up to the undefeated Rokanori before stablemate Fear The Wind landed a dominant win in the TABtouch – Better Your Bet Maiden (1600m).
Starting a $2.35 favourite, the Fiorente four-year-old jumped the gates well before landing in the breeze and then running away from rivals over the late stages, scoring a soft win by more than three lengths at the finish.
The lightly-raced gelding put the writing on the wall for his winning performance with an eye-catching second placing first-up over 1400m at Belmont a fortnight prior and appears to have staying potential.
The next race saw Outspoken Lad ($3) justify his favouritism in the Furphy Bunbury Cup at Ascot 5th March Handicap (1600m) when producing a near-carbon copy of Fear The Wind’s victory.
The Awesome Rock three-year-old also raced outside of the leader before pulling away in the straight to dominate rivals by more than two lengths, landing his second win from only four race starts.
Stablemate Love Drunk Baby ($4.60) produced a solid first-up performance in the Autumn Ascot Racing Carnival 19th March to 25th April Handicap (1100m) in the following event when finishing a luckless fourth.
The Bradbury’s Luck four-year-old settled in the box seat behind a red-hot speed before getting held up for clear running in the straight, however, he still stuck on well to be beaten only two-and-a-quarter lengths at the finish.
The Pearce stable’s fifth and final runner of the day, Roch Legacy, landed the in-form yard the third leg of a winning treble when handling a distance rise in the Amelia Park Handicap (2200m) with ease.
The consistent Blackfriars four-year-old had finished a nose second at his previous two race starts but appeared to appreciate being ridden more conservatively when hitting the line powerfully from the second-half of the field to score by a neck.
The annual Pearce Racing Yearling Parade will be held at the Magic Millions Perth sales complex this Friday from 6.30pm.
CLICK HERE to watch the replay of Fear The Wind’s Ascot win.
CLICK HERE to watch the replay of Outspoken Lad’s Ascot win.
CLICK HERE to watch the replay of Roch Legacy’s Ascot win.