Willie Pike labelled Watch Me Rock a carnival horse after he clicked into overdrive to run down stablemate Fluro Neuro in the LR Old Comrade Stakes (1600m) at Ascot.
Trained by Grant and Alana Williams, Watch Me Rock continued the successful run for his Group 1 winning sire Awesome Rock (Fastnet Rock). Saturday’s Old Comrade result was a repeat his first black-type victory when he defeated Fluro Neuro (Gingerbread Man) in last month’s LR Grandstand Cup (1500m).
“He had more up his sleeve but only does enough to win,” Pike said. “With a spell under his belt, he can come back and improve into a serious contender for the spring and summer.”
The Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) in November has been mentioned as a long-term goal and he can go to another level after a near-perfect autumn prep. The only blip was a lacklustre loss in the LR Bunbury Stakes (1400m).
Awesome Rock stands at Gold Front Thoroughbreds and has built a 61% strike-rate in his first four crops. Watch Me Rock led a list of city winners in March that included Banks Avenue (Belmont), Canny Rock (Ascot), Our Rocky Bay (Ascot) and Terratif (Ascot). They were augmented by Awesome Boy (Pinjarra), Awesome Lily (Geraldton) and Striking Fella (Pingrup Cup).
Watch Me Rock races for a Ridgeport Farm partnership of Santo Guagliardo, Marge Ojapold, Ben Gudjonsson and Angelina Blaskovic after failing to make a $40,000 reserve at the 2022 Perth Magic Millions.
The Old Comrade Stakes result improved his stats to 8 wins in 15 starts for earnings of $545,000 including Westspeed Bonuses of $159,000. His dam What Choux Want (Jimmy Choux) has since foals colts by Rommel and Long Leaf for Ojapold and the mare was bred back to Maschino last October.
In other Gold Front news, Leonardo Da Hinchi (Hinchinbrook), who vacated the roster earlier this year, sired Geraldton maiden winner Leonardo Da Grey for owner-breeder Kim Renner and trainer Ron Cowl jnr.
Gold Front retiree Slater (Redoute’s Choice) was also in the frame on Sunday when Bambun Boy scored a front-running victory in the $125,000 Geraldton Cup (2100m) for owner-breeder John Latham and Gold Front owner-trainer Sue Olive.