Saturday night’s $35,500 Group 3 Warragul St Leger final (460m) shapes as a ‘must watch’ sequel to the recent G1 Maturity Classic, with superstar duo Qwara Bale and Aston Fastnet reprising their starring roles.
Add boom speedster Koblenz (Box 2) into the mix and the race for the $25,000 winner’s purse shapes as one of the most memorable in the age-restricted feature’s history.
Andrea Dailly’s Qwara Bale (Box 7) celebrated her second G1 victory in the Maturity, having previously won the Sapphire Crown as well as the G2 Warrnambool Cup.
Qwara Bale made her Warragul debut when winning her heat in 25.63sec, handing exciting local prospect Paua Of Buddy (Box 3), trained at Buln Buln East by Steve White and a half-brother to joint Warragul 400m record holder Paua Of Oscar, his first defeat in five appearances at the track.
‘Team Dailly’ also has a second finalist in Shima Classic (Box 5), a half-sister to champion sprinter Shima Shine, which was unplaced in the 2019 St Leger final at just his fifth start.
Shima Classic ran third to Qwara Bale in the Sapphire Crown and also qualified for the G1 Australian Cup and G2 Ballarat Cup finals.
Aston Fastnet (Box 8), trained by Jason Thompson, whose wife Seona prepared 2018 St Leger winner Aston Kimetto, also raced by high profile owner/breeder Ray Borda, started favourite in the Maturity but was never a factor after blowing the start.
Aston Fastnet is the fastest qualifier for the St Leger after a 25.39sec heat victory, his second win from three Warragul appearances; however, as was the case in the Maturity, he’ll have to contend with the outside alley.
TAB has marked Aston Fastnet as joint $4.60 second elect with Qwara Bale, with Koblenz (Box 2), which won the third heat in 25.65sec, the $2.30 favourite.
The regally bred Koblenz, a son of Fernando Bale and trainer David Geall’s two-time G1 winner Up Hill Jill, boasts the imposing record of 17 from 24 and is looking for his first victory at Group level.
Koblenz has won three from three from box two, while he’s yet to be beaten in eight career assignments from boxes one, two and three.
Another local hope, Hennessey (Box 6), trained by Ashlee Terry at Nilma North, is another finalist boasting excellent Warragul credentials, having won five on end before running third in Koblenz’s heat.
The field is rounded out by Angela Langton’s litter brothers Keep It Blue (Box 1) and Keep It Black (Box 4), both making their first appearances at Group level.
The St Leger meeting also includes the Simon Benson Memorial Grade 5 final (460m), featuring Maturity runner-up Fernando Mick, and the President’s Cup (680m).
