22 January 2024 | Ashleigh Paikos
It was a weekend for Country Cups in WA, with the Busselton Cup run and won on Friday night, followed by the $20,000 2024 Wellington & Reeves Albany Cup (2690m MS) that went the way of the Barry Howlett trained Lil Happy Fella.
Driven by Emily Suvaljko, Lil Happy Fella started from barrier nine in the feature event on the card, and after settling in the one-out-two-back position throughout,, Suvaljko peeled off three wide with just under a lap to go, making it a two horse race to the line with the six-year-old coming out on top by a half head on the line over the short-priced favourite Chasing Hill in a slick 1:58:0.
“The horse went super,
“He had to sustain a longer sprint than previously anticipated,
“Barry was confident before the race which made my job a bit easier.” Emily Suvaljko said.
The Westbred gelding by Rock N Roll Heaven USA and out of Lil Miss Hilarious NZ was bred by Barry Howlett down in Busselton and was the first foal of six from the dam, including Hilarious Reign who was a scratching from the Cup on Saturday night.
Lil Happy Fella has now had 49 starts for the stable, for 9 wins and 13 placings, with his stakes now in excess of $76,000 after the feature win.
Michael Young and Stuart McDonald dominated the meeting with four winners on the night, but the team was disappointed with missing out on the cup win by a narrow margin.
“He went huge, they knocked plenty off the track record,
“But it’s still disappointed,
“It was a good night, Stewie drove them all well. Michael Young said.
Princess Katie kicked off the celebrations for the stable, with the $1.40 leading all the way over the 1832m trip. With a dominating win, the three-year-old westbred filly spaced the field by 17.m, claiming her third career win in 14 starts, with a winning mile rate of 1:57:6.
After winning the Harry Capararo Memorial Sprint last week, Chillin continued his great form with a win in the second for the Young/McDonald combination.
Making it a race-to-race treble, Ideal Tomado NZ resumed from a spell, making it a winning return, with the $1.04 favourite leading all the way in race three.
It was a great weekend for local owners Ken Davies, Robyn King, Alana Phillips and Cheyenne King-Davies, with the family celebrating an owning double.
Nullarbor Navajo was successful on Friday night at Gloucester Park for trainer Corey Peterson and driven by Stuart McDonald, with the seven-year-old mare leading all the way in the metropolitan event.
Koolbardi Navajo flew the flag for the family in race fur at Albany, with the fine-year-old double westbred mare leading all the way for trainer and driver Tim Stone.
Race six on the card went the of the Sandra Mckinley trained Bazza Mac NZ for driver Cody Wallrodt, and with almost a year between wins, the nine-year-old broke a 26-start losing sequence, getting his head in front at the right time to win by a small margin.
Michael Young and Stuart McDonald rounded out the program with a win in the last, with four-year-old Quintessence breaking her maiden status at her first start in a race.
Bred and owned by Steve Johnson, her start to racing was delayed due to being sick as a two-year-old and needing extra time to grow, but on Saturday the westbred mare was able to lead all the way over the 2265m trip, giving Young and McDonald the final instalment of their winning quartets.
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