Richly-talented New Zealand four-year-old A Piccadilly princess faces an acid test when she lines up against smart and seasoned West Australian six-year-old Ideal Alice in the $35,000 TABtouch Parliamentarians Cup for mares over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
A Piccadilly Princess made an auspicious West Australian debut last Friday night when she unwound a sparkling late burst to charge home from fourth on the home turn to score an easy win over Ideal Tyson and the pacemaker Johnny Disco.
Later in the evening Ideal Alice was an unlucky fourth behind Major Reality in the $50,000 Norms Daughter Classic when she was badly blocked for a clear passage until very late in the race. Ideal Alice, trained by Gary Hall sen., finished boldly to win from Quite A Delight a week earlier. She is an M8-class mare clashing with A Piccadilly Princess, who advanced to a M1 classification after her victory last Friday night.
“A Piccadilly Princess is a good little mare, who won three group 1 events as a three-year-old,” said trainer-reinsman Mark Purdon. “I’ve seen Ideal Alice and she’s the one to beat, without any doubt. I don’t think we could sit outside of her and beat her. I doubt that A Piccadilly Princess could beat out Ideal Alice.
“I reckon that leading will be the game plan for Ideal Alice. It would be nice if we can get a nice trip somewhere.”
The Ross Olivieri-trained Lady Willoughby will be driven by Chris Voak from the No. 5 barrier and should be prominent. She has been a consistent performer, with her 51 starts producing 16 wins and 14 placings. She resumed after a two-month absence when she finished strongly to win over 2185m at a 1.57.4 rate at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon.
“She can step up, but realistically she’s a place chance with a small winning hope,” Olivieri said.
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