Quality four year old mare Storyville (Overshare) collected her third stakes win and slammed the door of the Last Chance Saloon shut on a couple of potential Railway Stakes rivals in the G3 RJ Peters Stakes 1500m at Ascot.
The final event on a Pinnacles Day One card that featured five stakes races, the RJ Peters was the one remaining opportunity for horses to obtain exemption from the hotly contested ballot for WA's famous G1 mile.
Storyville had no such concerns, having already cemented her place in the Railway field by virtue of her outstanding WA Guineas / WA Champion Fillies double last season.
The Grant and Alana Williams bred and trained mare was there for a nice hit out to top her off for the main target next week, and a win would be a bonus!
For her ten rivals the pressure was well and truly on! Chief amongst them was favourite Cosmic Crusader (Maurice), a quality 5yo galloper rolled off the Peters Investments production line in NZ and now seeking his first stakes win, after a first up third in the G3 Asian Beau Stakes to Watch Me Rock.
Also well in the market were classy mares Bonjoy (Maschino) and Luvnwar (War Decree), the latter another Bob Peters / Michael Grantham produced contender.
Storyville was kept safe by punters, but they couldn't find anything to enthuse about regarding the chances of the rest of them.
The out of form 2023 G1 Northerly Stakes hero Zipaway (Playing God) went round at 40/1, Multinational (Zoustar) was slightly more well regarded at 30/1 - while Demolish (Rich Enuff), Aztec Ruler (Universal Ruler) and 10yo crowd favourite Bruce Almighty (Playing God) were at 50/1.
The bolters were Cold Shizzle (Awesome Rock) and the G1,SA Derby / QLD Derby placed Lavalier (Microphone), having his first start in the west for Neville Parnham on a path towards the Perth Cup.
When the starter let them go Multinational speared to the lead with old Bruce Almighty up there on the premises and Storyville under Willie Pike in third. Cosmic Crusader (Clint Johnston- Porter) settled midfield with Demolish (Laqdar Ramoly) beside him, and the mares Bonjoy and Luvnwar were well off the pace.
Multinational led the Peters field at a moderate tempo. Demolish had made a move up to third and sat outside Storyville who was getting the gun run.
Cosmic Crusader wasn't far away, but the favourite had horses all around him.
Multinational led them for home as Bruce started to feel the pinch, but Demolish was still going strongly despite working hard as Storyville went for a rails run and now Aztec Ruler appeared on the outside! - Cosmic Crusader languished behind a wall of horses!
They went to the post - Storyville on the rail, Demolish still there fighting like a tiger, Aztec Ruler beside him and Cosmic Crusader lunging through a last minute gap - it was another Ascot thriller.
Pike and Storyville had won by a short neck from longshot Demolish - a mighty performance - with the unlucky Cosmic Crusader a half head away in third, and Aztec Ruler a close up fourth. Luvnwar made up many lengths to run fifth just a length from the winner.
Grant Williams is a humorous character.
“Mate, we were just trying to keep people out of the Railway” he joked after the race.
“Not all jokes aside - she is a handful - she's silly to get on, we had to put Pikey on up there (outside the mounting yard) and we do need to take the edge off her.
"Next week will be the hardest race she's ever been in, we've just got to do the best we can and I think the best thing we can do for them is race them”.
Williams was candid though about the flighty mare's underwhelming winter preparation.
“Last season we put her into the Kingston Town ( after the Guineas / Champion Fillies) and it flattened her - that showed in her winter prep.”
Willie Pike summed it up succinctly on return to scale.
“She's difficult - but at least she's worth the hassle!”
Naughty but gifted Storyville advances her record to 5 wins and 3 placings from 14 starts for earnings of $657,840 - and she will get her chance to top up those winnings handsomely in the Railway - more importantly she will get her chance to claim the coveted title of G1 winner and enhance her considerable value as a breeding prospect!
A half-sister to stakes-placed winners Crescent City (Fiorente) and Axeman's Jazz (Dundeel), Storyville was bred by Grant and Alana and is the fourth winner from five to race for the unraced Time Thief mare New Orleans, a half-sister to seven-time stakes winner Battle Hero (Stratum).
New Orleans has produced three fillies in a row since foaling Storyville in 2021.
In 2023 came a full sister to Storyville by Overshare, followed by a 2022 Toronado daughter and a Pride Of Dubai filly this season.
There could be some exciting times ahead with those girls!
Storyville's second dam is the NZ bred O'Reilly mare Fromm, grand dam of the WA Guineas winning filly Treasured Star (Toronado) - that mare is owned by Peters Investments and had her first foal this spring by superstar Anamoe - guess what, it's a filly!
This classy female line goes back to the stakes winning Pakistan daughter Georgina Belle (a branch of 7-d) and its taproot mare is the imported Eleusis (GB) - Storyville descends from her VRC Oaks winning daughter Eleusive.
Storyville is very closely related to 4x G1 winner and champion mare Probabeel and to G1 Flight Stakes winning / Spring Champion Stakes runner up Never Been Kissed.
What a family!
Storyville is bred
Danzig 5m, 5m x 5m
Danehill 4m x 4m,5m
Redoute's Choice 3f x 3m sex balanced
Canny Lad 4f,5f x 5f
And this is the kind of intense inbreeding/linebreeding that works with a damline of this quality.
Overshare's G1 winning daughter Lady Laguna ( sold for $2.5 million at Magic Millions National Broodmare this year ) was also an exceptional mare in open G1 company, and I'm betting Storyville will graduate to that elite level as well.
The royally bred Overshare won at G3 level but like his sire I Am Invincible, he has gone on to sire far better performers than himself, and primarily fillies.
His immediate family is that of Japanese champions and sires Epiphaneia and Leontes, the French G1 winning mare Anna Pavlova and European Champion Older Horse and dual G1 winner Fascinating Rock.
Overshare was exported to Indonesia in June 2025.
