[PHOTO: Western Racepix]
Rising four-year-old Prince made an encouraging return to racing at Bunbury Fibre Sand on Thursday when taking out the Garry Dyer Maiden (950m).
The lightly-raced son of Power had been gelded following his last preparation in summer and put the writing on the wall for his maiden victory with a sharp trial win at Lark Hill on July 14.
Ridden by Tash Faithfull, he jumped a $7 chance from the outside barrier in the seven-horse field and was forced to cover additional ground when racing three-wide but he always travelled well and chimed in with a strong finish in the straight.
He collared Beyond The Wall ($2.90) passing the 200m mark and pulled away over the late stages to defeat the second favourite by almost two lengths on the line, with Muzza’s Gift ($9) a further two-and-three-quarter lengths away in third place.
Bred and owned by Neven Botica, Prince has always shown promise behind the scenes and in his trials and his gelding procedure combined with further maturity appears to have helped him replicate that on raceday.
The striking brown galloper was Pearce Racing’s first runner on Bunbury’s new Fibre Sand track and brought up the stable’s 80th winner of the 2024/25 season on the final day of the season.
Stablemates Kiralui, Defending, Exceltrain, Dun With The Blues and Outspoken Lad are engaged to race at Saturday’s Pinjarra Scarpside meeting which has been transferred from Belmont Park.
CLICK HERE to view the results and replay of Prince’s Bunbury Fibre Sand win.