Pike Strolls in to win Bill Carter Stakes
The Steven O’Dea & Matthew Hoysted-trained Stroll gave the locals something to cheer about at Eagle Farm on Saturday, as she exploded late under William Pike to win the Listed Bill Carter Stakes (1200m).
The two-year-old filly by Snitzel showed plenty of promise early on, winning at the Sunshine Coast on debut back in back in December, before placing third in the $125,000 Aquis Gold Pearl (1100m) at just her second start.
After resuming on an unsuitable heavy track on the Gold Coast in early May in the Group 3 Ken Russell Classic (1200m), Stroll relished the four weeks between runs and the upgrade to a Good 4 surface at Eagle Farm.
A genuine tempo was set by runner up Bezique, who was game in defeat but ultimately no match for the winner, as Stroll recorded a 0.75-length victory in a time of 1:11.12.
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Co-trainer Matthew Hoysted said post-race that the stable has always had a high opinion of the filly, with their original target being next Saturday’s J.J. Atkins at Group 1 level, but with a the Brisbane Winter Carnival being somewhat plagued by wet tracks, their plans had to be changed.
“She’s a filly we’ve always had a really big opinion of and she obviously did a good effort in her first preparation and nothing went right last start – just got into a bad position on a slow speed on a wet track – so it was great to see her finally get on top of the track today and be able to show that turn of foot,” Hoysted said.
“Originally she was going to run in this race two weeks ago and still had the plan of potentially trying to get her to the J.J., but obviously on the back of that race being called off, we changed plans and were happy to run here again.
“Probably save her for another three weeks. There’s a 1400-metre stakes race there. This preparation has all been about getting a bit of prizemoney behind her.
“She’s a Magic Millions filly that we paid big money for with Proven Thoroughbreds and getting that stakes win early on in the campaign is a really, really big effort and now we can look forward to targeting her to a 3YO Magic Millions.”