Trainer Dion Luciani conceded Young Lionel should have a much better strike-rate after winning the Perth Racing Hcp (1600m) on Wednesday.
Back in January, the Blackfriars gelding looked the goods when powering home for an impressive victory on debut at Pinjarra. It’s taken him the rest of the calendar year to salute again but Luciani is confident the next one isn’t as far away.
“He’s won twice in seven starts but it should be four or five,” Luciani claimed at Ascot. “We expected him to win this afternoon and would have been disappointed if he didn’t.
“Things went his way and getting out to a mile also helped. Given clear galloping room, he was always going to be hard to hold out.”
Young Lionel (4g Blackfriars – Prime Again by Marooned) has been rated highly since changing hands for $35,000 at the 2010 Perth Magic Millions. A couple of setbacks that required surgery kept him on the sidelines throughout 2011.
His dam Prime Again was prepared by Lou Luciani when he was private trainer for Tilden Park Stud’s Dallas Dempster. She was top-class winning 7 races up to 2400m topped by the G2 Champion Fillies, G2 Strickland Stakes at G3 Auraria Stakes in Adelaide.
At stud, Prime Again has been represented by 8 winners including Lady Knockout (Serheed) who doubled up in the 2002 Belmont Guineas and Oaks before travelling east to win the LR Matron Stakes at Flemington.
Her Gilded Time gelding Expunge also reached Listed level in Malaysia after winning the 2005 Kyneton Cup.
The mare has been covered for the last four years by Scenic Lodge sire Blackfriars. Their 3yo filly All Primed Up is spelling after a short winter campaign and there’s a 2yo filly and a yearling filly in the pipeline.
Blackfriars leads the 2012-13 Sunspeed sires’ premiership and he broke through the $1 million mark when Rosie Rocket, Playing God and God Has Spoken collectively earned $150,000 for finishing third, fourth and fifth in the G1 Railway Stakes on Saturday.
Scenic Lodge stands Blackfriars (Danehill) for a $16,500 (inc gst) service fee alongside Universal Ruler (Scenic) at Muchea in Western Australia.
– Karl Patterson