3 minute read
Simon Miller has his second runner in The Quokka with three-year-old filly Petula the latest addition.
Three-year-olds continue to dominate the second edition of The Quokka (1200m), which will be run for $5 million on April 20 at Ascot racecourse.
The field is nearly finalised and Petula is the fifth three-year-old to be confirmed for the second running with Sky Racing taking Simon Miller's filly in their slot.
She joins Oscar's Fortune, Ripcord, Almighty Class and Super Smink from her age group in the race, and is coming off a last-start peak rating when hitting the line strongly for third in the Rock Magic Stakes (1000m) behind sharp sprinters Wild Belle and Acromantula.
Petula ran to 106 on the Racing And Sports scale there, up from her two previous runs of 99 and 98, meaning she's run a new peak at her past three starts.
That Petula was able to run a new peak over 1000m last start is encouraging because her best form prior was over further, winning a very strong Bm66+ at Pinjarra over 1300m the start prior having also won at Listed level the start prior.
A rating of 106 certainly won't win what is shaping up to be a very strong edition of The Quokka, but as with a few of the three-year-olds in the race, Petula is all about upside.
Trawling through Petula's form, there are plenty of positives that connections can draw upon. At just her second start, she ran to 95+ over 1000m at Ascot to win the Max Simmonds Stakes, putting 1.5 lengths on Ripcord, who has gone on to win the Placid Ark and place in the Winterbottom and Gold Rush.
Petula herself ran in the Listed Placid Ark Stakes (1200m) and started equal third-pick in the market at $7 (shorter than winner Ripcord), running on well to finish a narrow fourth.
This will no doubt be a stern test for Petula, who will have to improve somewhere in the vicinity of 3-4 lengths to be fighting out the finish of The Quokka, but she's coming off consecutive peaks and she'll likely start as one of the longest runners in the field. She's had a soft trial at Lark Hill in the interim to keep her up to the mark where she worked home well.
Patrick Carbery will keep the ride on Petula from barrier nine, but she has been put up as an outsider in the TABtouch final field market, currently a $41* chance behind stablemate Amelia's Jewel who holds the call at $3.10.
*Odds correct on 17/4/24
About the Slot-Holder: Sky Racing
Sky Racing is a major broadcaster of Australian racing across television, radio and online platforms. Established in 1985 as Sky Channel, Sky was then acquired by Tabcorp in 1998 and rebranded to Sky Racing in 2009.
2009 marked a major milestone for Sky Racing who expanded their television broadcast to the three channels which exist today, Sky Racing 1, Sky Racing 2 and Thoroughbred Central. This allowed Sky Racing to commence providing the extensive 24/7 international coverage the broadcaster is renown for today.
This is the first time Sky Racing has been a slot holder in The Quokka, securing the spot in November 2023.
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