Westbury Park resident A Lot (USA) sired a running double on WA Day at Northam and added a third promising 3yo winner on Wednesday in the Avon Valley.
Our Paladin Al landed the first-leg of the public holiday brace on Monday as a $1.20 favourite in the Countrywide Maintenance Maiden Plate (1600m). He was coming off a short-priced loss behind Fire The Lot (A Lot) at Pinjarra last month and sat on the speed to score by three lengths from Queen Aria (Pariah) and Elegant Peak (A Lot).
He was bred by the late Alan Morton at Queenslea Park in Pingelly and trainer Russell Stewart sent a heartfelt post-race message on Facebook. “That one’s for Al and he would have been cheering from the sky. He said this was the best-looking baby he bred at Queenslea. He’s still raw and green but with plenty of upside.”
Our Paladin Al (3g A Lot – Flirtatious by Purrealist) is the second foal from a Mornington winner who later travelled to the Pearl Coast and Pilbara where she won at Broome, Port Hedland and Roebourne for Tom Pike before saluting in the 2015 Marble Bar Cup.
Flirtatious foaled recent Ascot winner Trooper Phoenix (King’s Troop) first-up and her latest is a Playing God weanling colt bred by Grant Burns and Kim Rose.
American Escape was the other short-priced winner by A Lot on Monday in the Northam Traders Sprint (1300m) for Alan Morton’s nephew Dan. She had won a Bunbury Maiden and Class 1 in December-January and received the right run in the one-one line as the $2.25 favourite under Willie Pike.
American Escape (3f A Lot – Fleeting Angel by Don’t Say Halo) is a half-sister Variation (War Chant) who won four black-type events topped by a Group 2 in the 2016 WA Guineas (1600m). Bred and sold by Willaview Park, she cost Dan Morton $80,000 at the 2023 Perth Magic Millions.
Auto Cruise (3f A Lot – Cruisey Bek by Hala Bek) was just as impressive in the Wittens Irrigation Maiden (1300m) on Wednesday with trainer Holly Taylor singing her praises post-race at Northam. The debutante landed a $13 into $7 commission after she kept finding to deny Impressive Jewel (Playing God).
“I always take note of a song that plays as I drive into the races in case they win and it becomes the horse’s winning anthem,” Taylor said. “How fitting our little ginger demon now has this song as her anthem.”
Taylor was referring to the heavy-metal hit Dragula sung by Rob Zombie. The title comes from the name of souped up dragster Dragula on The Munsters TV Show.
A Lot flag-bearer A Lot of Good Men can make amends for an unlucky first-up loss in the G3 Belmont Sprint (1400m) last month when he returns for the G3 Hyperion Stakes (1600m) at weight-for-age on Saturday.
A Lot of Good Men won last year’s G2 WATC Derby (2400m) and has a winning second-up strike-rate for trainer and managing part-owner Trevor Andrews. He has earned $760,440 including Westspeed Bonuses of $151,800 and the Hyperion prizemoney pool totals $200,000.
A Lot is a USA-bred son of Champion North American sire Tapit standing at Westbury Park for an $8,800 (inc GST) fee this year. For bookings or further information, broodmare owners can contact Phil Ibbotson (0429 341 211) or Claire Williamson (0417 914 605).