Worth a whopping $500,000, the Listed WATC Placid Ark Stakes (1100m) for three year-olds was the richest race on the program at Ascot on Saturday and the short priced favourite Luana Miss scored an impressive win.
Trained by Trevor Andrews and ridden by Shaun O’Donnell, Luana Miss was third up from a spell and coming off a last start win in the Placid Ark Prelude on November 1, so was cherry ripe to take on a big field of 16 runners.
She settled back off the pace and had trouble getting a run after turning for home, but once the speedy filly saw daylight it was game over.
Luana Miss let down with a lethal turn of foot to reel in her rivals and win by nearly a length over Sherpa Express (Blue Point (IRE) and Country God (Playing God).
Luana Miss was a $110,000 Magic Millions Perth purchase from the Western Breeders Alliance for her trainer and has the impressive record of four wins and a second from six starts with prizemoney just shy of $530,000.
She was expected to be winning on Saturday, but at the top of the straight things weren’t looking good, so Trevor Andrews was a happy man when she arrived on the line.
“The relief is amazing,” Andrews said.
“She was in a good spot but he had horses all round him and nowhere to go.
“Credit to Shaun, he persevered and forced a run. The horses on the outside were full of running but she’s just got an electric turn of foot.
“She’s just a ripper filly but you need a lot of luck. She just keeps raising the bar.”
Connections will now consider the possibility of a start in the Group I WATC Winterbottom Stakes in two weeks time where she would meet the lines of local sprint star Jokers Grin and Sydney raider Overpass.
Bred by Clive Atwell of Darling View Thoroughbreds, Luana Miss is the third winner from four to race from stakes-placed Little Bit Ditsy, a half-sister by Bel Esprit to stakes-winner Vienna Miss.
The family has had good success in WA as Little Bit Ditsy is a half-sister to Oppsy Doopsy, the dam of two more WA stakes-winners in Gangbuster and Let It Slip.
Going back further it’s the family of Group I VRC Oaks winner Hollow Bullet, so there is class aplenty on the pedigree to suggest Luana Miss has much more to come.
Little Bit Ditsy has an unnamed 2YO filly by Farnan that passed in at the sales this year and after missing in the following season produced a filly by Playing God earlier this spring.
Little Bit Ditsy was bought by Darling View Thoroughbreds from the 2022 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for $160,000 when in foal to Bivouac with Luana Miss the result of the mating.
Also a stakes-winner at two last season, Luana Miss is one of three stakes-winners for Darley based Bivouac, who stands at a fee of $55,000 and has 12 entries for Magic Millions 2026.
