Peters Investments won the G1 Kingston Town Classic (1800m) for the sixth time on Saturday and for good measure the cerise and white silks filled out the quinella when Truly Great defeated Inspirational Girl.
Owner-breeders Bob and Sandra Peters had already won Perth’s premier weight-for-age event with Old Nick (Old Spice), Old Comrade x 2 (Old Spice), Perfect Reflection (More Than Ready) and Arcadia Queen (Pierro).
Truly Great (5g Dundeel – Truly Special by Jeune) was perfectly poised to strike in the straight and bounded away while Inspirational Girl (Reliable Man) charged home when it was all too late. “The winner got a good run and the filly got way back – that’s all it boiled down to,” Peters said. “When he hit the front, I saw they weren’t going to run him down.
“I’ve said all along, that year (2015) he was our best foal, and I’ve had to wait a long time for him. A lot of things went wrong, but I’ve always believed in him. I’ve always said he’s one of the best types of any horse I’ve ever bred, this fellow.
“Stand back and have a look at him, he’s magnificent.”
Truly Great is the fifth Group 1 winner by Dundeel and is a half-brother to G3 WA Oaks winner Special Alert (Not A Single Doubt). Their second dam Reigning Belle (Military Plume) won a LR Morphettville Guineas.
Peters indicated the G2 Ted van Heemst Stakes (2100m) at weight-for-age will be the next mission for Truly Great on December 19. A start in the G2 Perth Cup (2400m) on January 2 is unlikely.
The Kingston Town was the middle-leg of a winning treble for Peters Investments. Earlier in the day, Adornment (Medaglia D’Oro) won the Amelia Park Hcp (2200m) while Dark Mission (Zoffany) closed the card in the Seacorp Hcp (1200m).
Winning jockey Chris Parnham was overcome with emotion after winning his first Group 1. “It’s taken so long and I started to doubt myself whether it would ever happen,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s really sunk in yet. I could have ridden the Winterbottom winner Elite Street but this just makes up for everything.”
Winning co-trainer Grant Williams paid tribute to his wife Alana who ran their Karnup stable while he was in Victoria for the spring carnival. “She had 50 to look after and I only had 6,” he said. “Truly Great was always a flashy horse early but pretty immature in the body and mind.”
The Kingston Town is the final Group 1 of the calendar year and it’s been a momentous one on both coasts for the Peters family. They filled the quinella in the $5 million All-Star Mile with Regal Power and Superstorm at Caulfield in March.
Arcadia Queen completed a Group 1 double at the Melbourne spring carnival in the Caulfield Stakes and Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington and the Group 1 wins rolled on when Inspirational Girl landed the Railway Stakes at Ascot on November 21.
Bob and Sandra Peters are long-standing members of Thoroughbred Breeders WA and won their latest WA Breeder of the Year award in 2019-20.