The winners of the three-year-old races at Canterbury have passed crucial tests heading into the spring carnival.
The midweek meeting hosted three races for the new season’s Classic generation with Devil Hawk, Serene Majesty and Laucala triumphant.
A brother to 2013 Queensland Derby winner Hawkspur, the Chris Waller-trained Devil Hawk was at the races for just the second time and took out Wednesday’s Schweppes Plate (1250m) while his stablemate Laucala won the 1550m maiden.
Waller will target the Group One Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) with Devil Hawk who he says is stronger than his elder brother at the same stage of his career.
“Hawkspur took about ten races to win his maiden,” Waller said.
“It’s hard to compare, but he’s got the ability.”
It was the third racetrack appearance for Laucala who Waller compared favourably to this year’s Queensland Oaks winner Winx.
“There are a lot of similarities between her and Winx,” he said.
“She is still the unfinished product and I’m not sure how far we want to go with her this preparation.”
Laucala is entered for the Thousand Guineas at Caulfield in October as is the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Serene Majesty, the dominant winner of the 1250m fillies maiden.
“She was nice and relaxed and it was good to see her do that,” Peter Snowden said.
“It’s a big jump to the better class races but she has plenty of ability and we’ll see how far we can go with her.”
Another with ability and pedigree to win was the Ron Quinton-trained Lucky Can Be, a half-sister to the 2012 Coolmore Classic winner Ofcourseican.
The four-year-old Lucky Can Be was having just her second start and kept her unbeaten record intact with victory in the 1100m-benchmark 65.
The diminutive mare was named for her resilience after a rugged start to life.
“Her mother, Yes She Can Cancan, died giving birth to her,” Quinton said.
“A lot of foals raised by foster mothers can be little and she is.
“It has taken time and I’m not sure how far she can go but she has natural ability.”
Article from justhorseracing.com.au
