WA's brilliant speedster Talkanco was too good for a quality field when resuming in the G3 Prince Of Wales Stakes ( 1000m) at Ascot yesterday.
The daughter of the ill-fated I'm All The Talk has always been a dynamic fresh horse, and so she proved to be again when able to hold off the fast finishing pair Immortal Bliss ( I Am Immortal) and Kraken Time (Universal Ruler) to register her fifth career win.
Last seen in Adelaide contesting the G1 Goodwood - in which she met with no luck whatsoever - the Dan and Ben Pearce trained four year old has never been unplaced when first up, nor at the 1000m trip.
She was sent out a 5/4 favourite for the Prince Of Wales, just ahead of Dan Morton's Immortal Bliss at 7/4 with Twisted Steel ( Rommel) at 6/1 the only other runner under double figure odds.
The sole three year old in the field, Dawn Dancer ( Headwater) is a galloper with electric gate speed, and he flew the barriers for jockey Victoria Corver to take up the lead as expected.
Twisted Steel and roughie Cut The Talk ( Oratorio) were in the on-pace bunch behind him.
Talkanco settled back midfield and Immortal Bliss was soon well off the pace, as the leader went out like a scalded cat mid-race.
Everything was set up for the back markers to finish over the top if they were good enough!
At the 450m Dawn Dancer was motoring along like a Ferrari, out by two and a half lengths from his nearest rival Twisted Steel.
But he was running into a strong southerly headwind, and even as the three year old zoomed into the straight the needle on his fuel gauge was plunging into the red.
No sooner had Twisted Steel pounced upon the tiring leader than Talkanco appeared breathing fire on his outside while Immortal Bliss and 16/1 Kraken Time ( Universal Ruler) were coming together down the straight with big runs.
They couldn't overhaul Talkanco though. The mare went powerfully to the line for jockey Brad Parnham to win the Prince Of Wales by half a length, with Immortal Bliss and Kraken Time separated by a nose and Twisted Steel fighting on to hold a distant fourth.
Running the Talk … Winner of the Group 3 Gimcrack and Group 2 Karrakatta Plate at 2, the now 4YO Talkanco has unleashed a blinder to capture the Group 3 Prince of Wales Stakes over 1000m at Ascot. Trained by Daniel & Ben Pearce, the mare has won 5 from 15 with 7 placings and takes her earnings to nearly $1.3 million. Retained by her breeder, Talkanco is by Stratum stallion, I’m All The Talk. @PerthRacing @Pearce_Racing
— Aushorse (@Aushorse_TBA) October 31, 2026
Last season, as a three year old filly Talkanco was less than a length off heavyweight eastern states raiders Jigsaw and Rey Magnerio in the $5 million Quokka, and she will meet both of them again in the G1 Winterbottom Stakes next month as a bigger and stronger individual.
“It's great to see her return in such good fashion” said co- trainer Ben Pearce.
“She has never done a thing wrong throughout her career, but it's always good to see them as a four year old, returning at this level.
“ She stayed over in Adelaide for a couple of weeks after the Goodwood before she made her way home, and then had a really good spell.
“She has furnished into a brute of a mare. She's really developed, and we are excited to see what she can do throughout this carnival.
“Obviously as a four year old she goes up in weight, but we're really happy with how she's progressed - and she deserves a spot in the Winterbottom."
Brad Parnham knows Talkanco very well, and rode her to her Karrakatta Plate triumph as a two year old filly.
“She's in for a good campaign” he reported.
“The speed was good early, and once she got into the clear she probably got to the front a lot easier than I expected. She was there to be beaten late but she toughed it out.
“Being first up, she was probably starting to feel the pinch inside that last 50 but she got the job done and I was really pleased with her effort.”
Talkanco is a homebred for Ian Riley and races under his Woodbridge Thoroughbreds banner with a group of co-owners which includes Pearce Racing.
Although she was runner up in the 1600m WA,Champion Fillies Stakes, Riley said early on that his star filly would be a sprinter not a sprinter-miler, and he has been proven right!
Talkanco's sire, the Stratum son I'm All The Talk, won the G3 Skyline Stakes at two and burst out of the blocks at stud in WA before his early demise in 2022. He left three multiple stakes winners, all fillies.
Talkanco is the third foal, third winner from three to race and first stakes winner bred from the very speedy California Dane mare Calianco - a member of a precocious and well-known Australian family.
Calianco's unraced 2024 colt by Marine One is named Oneco and she has since produced consecutive fillies by Rich Enuff and Capitalist.
The Capitalist filly, born earlier this month, is a full sister to Calianco's second foal the talented Richanco - also trained by the Pearce brothers to six wins in 15 starts and $239,530 in stakes.
Talkanco is bred
Danehill 4m x 3m
Canny Lad 5f x 4f
Northern Dancer x 5m,5m
Talkanco's broodmare sire California Dane passed his phenomenal turn of foot to his progeny like G1 winners Rebel Dane and Platinum Witness.
It's interesting that Rebel Dane is the sire of a stakes winner on a cross with Quiet American,who is second damsire of I'm All The Talk.
Talkanco's third dam, the stakes winning juvenile Balcanny is by the incredible Canny Lad, a stallion who frequently appears these days as a linebreeding subject in successful pedigrees, particularly of fillies.
This is of course facilitated by his presence on the damline of Redoute's Choice and relatives!
Talkanco can count among her close relations the multiple Group winning sprinter Blur and the classy colt Shrewd Rhythm, who won a Blue Diamond Prelude and Vain Stakes and stood briefly at stud in WA before being shipped out of Australia.
That proved to be a massive loss to local breeders when his daughter Sky Rumba foaled the freakish sprinter and G1 Oakleigh Plate winner Portland Sky!
Shrewd Rhythm's full sister Dancescape was also a stakes winning juvenile and she is the dam of Hong Kong sprinter Flying Ace, who has been a serious competitor at the top level in that tough jurisdiction.
This family traces directly in maternal line to one of the most revered mares in the entire studbook, Selene. This branch of her female line comes through the mare New Moon, most often present in Australasian pedigrees through her descendant Star Way, the damsire of Encosta De Lago.
Talkanco's pedigree also brings together the relatives Mr Prospector and Seattle Slew, and creates intensive linebreeding to the La Troienne family.
Talkanco is one of a handful of elite fillies to complete the Gimcrack / Karrakatta double, the last being the future champion Amelia's Jewel in 2022.
Amelia's Jewel was narrowly beaten by the mighty Overpass in two Quokkas. The daughter of Siyouni never contested a Winterbottom Stakes, but claimed G1s on both sides of the country 1400-1800m.
The last mare to win the Prince Of Wales Stakes and Winterbottom Stakes in the same season was Hall Of Fame sprinter Miss Andretti in 2005.
However, in those "pre-Pinnacles" days, both races were conducted over 1200m, with the Winterbottom run on the 1st of November and the Prince Of Wales at the end of the month.
Can Talkanco write her own chapter of WA turf history?
