Rally The Troops freewheeled in front of a capacity field at Geraldton on Thursday and he had them all off the bit a long way from home in the Champion Bay Freemasons Maiden (1400m).

The well-bred 3yo colt is trained by Pearce Racing and only needed a reminder or two from Tash Faithfull to win eased down from A Lot Of Class (A Lot) and the favourite Mythical Dream (Savabeel).

“That was an authoritative victory second-up from a spell,” Pearce Racing noted.  “He gave them the slip on straightening and then careered away.  He relished the addition of blinkers and the rise in distance to 1400m.

“We’ve always been held him in high regard and he has the ability to graduate into a city class horse.”

Rally The Troops is a younger half-brother to Buckets Ridge (Pride Of Dubai) who won the LR Northam Cup (1600m) in Amelia Park’s colours on Sunday.

They were the first two foals bred from Reveille (High Chaparral) by Amelia Park’s Peter Walsh in partnerships with Brian Bradley and John Cipriani.  Reveille had won three races up to a mile at Ascot and was subsequently sold to Orbis Bloodstock who bred her third foal in 2023 – a bay filly by Ducimus.