Sail Session headlined a career-best weekend haul of five winners for his sire Sessions (Lonhro) in the LR John Roberts Stakes (1800m) at Ascot on Saturday.

The Dan Morton-trained 3yo was forced to work without cover in the classic prelim but was full of running when presented by Lucy Fiore into the straight.  He waltzed by front-runner Please Mizter (War Chant) and cleared out to score by three-lengths from Play Fair (Playing God) and All Grunt (Grunt).

Sail Session (3g Sessions – Unfurl by Raise The Flag) will head to the LR Melvista Stakes (2200m) in a fortnight before an autumn grand-final in the G2 WA Derby (2400m) on April 19.  He’s currently on the second line at $3.30 behind the favourite Machine Gun Gracie ($2.60).

Sessions stands at Oakland Park and had opened the Ascot meeting on a winning note with Jaz Session in the Westspeed Platinum Hcp (1000m).  He then completed a winning treble with the fairer sex at Pinjarra on Sunday courtesy of Time Connection, Something Royal and Blazing Emerald who is an older sister to Sail Session.

“He was coming off a seven-day turnaround and the short back-up wasn’t part of our original plan,” Morton confirmed.  “But it wasn’t overly taxing last weekend and there was still some petrol left in the tank.

“He didn’t get any favours in running today.  It was a gutsy win and he’s definitely tracking in the right direction for the WA Derby.  He has really good let-down speed and hopefully he can take that into longer races.”

Sail Session (3g Sessions – Unfurl by Raise The Flag) is raced by Oakland Park owners Neville and Susan Duncan in partnership with Morton’s wife Carol.  His dam is a NZ-bred mare who won up to 2400m in Victoria and was placed in a LR Port Adelaide Cup and LR Warrnambool Cup.

Lucy Fiore was caught between a rock and a hard place when Sail Session jumped on terms and went forward from the tricky 1800m start at Ascot.  “I thought we would settle back in the field like his win last week,” she explained.  “I couldn’t get in and there was no point fighting him so I let him roll and then said go at the 600m.”

Sail Session is the fifth black-type winner by Sessions who stood for an $8,800 (inc GST) fee at Oakland Park in 2024 alongside Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor) and Ingratiating (Frosted).

His top-priced yearling at last month’s Perth Magic Millions was the filly from Xaar Boom (Xaar) purchased by Peace Racing for $120,000.  Offered by Forest View Farm, she is a half-sister to LR  Burgess Queen Stakes (1400m) winner Buzzoom (Safeguard).