Gai Waterhouse added another runner to her team for next Saturday’s Doncaster Mile when Fast Clip earned a ballot exemption with a fighting win at Randwick on Saturday.
Fast Clip ($8) fended off the challenge from Speediness ($10) in the straight to take out the Group Three Doncaster Prelude (1600m) by a half-neck with 1-1/4 lengths to Alma’s Fury ($18) in third place.
The victory brought up another feature race treble for Waterhouse after she earlier took out the Group One Sires’ Produce Stakes with Pierro and the Group Three Carbine Club Stakes with Fat Al.
It was the third straight Saturday Waterhouse had prepared a feature race treble.
Fast Clip will now join stablemates More Joyous and Niagara in the Group One Doncaster Mile (1600m) with Waterhouse aiming to win the event for a seventh time.
“Of course he’ll go to the Doncaster now. This is not called the Doncaster Prelude for nothing,” Waterhouse said.
“What a wonderful way to finish the day.”
Waterhouse praised the ride of Tommy Berry on Fast Clip after the jockey took the four-year-old to the front from the outset.
“He jumped the barriers, took control of the race and it was almost all over from the start,” the trainer said.
Berry has ridden both Fast Clip and Niagara to victory in the past three weeks and said he would leave it to Waterhouse to determine which one of the pair he rides in the Doncaster.
“They are different horses,” Berry said.
“Two starts ago, Niagara’s win was very impressive. Today Fast Clip was very tough and you’ve got to be tough to win a Doncaster. I’ll just leave it up to Gai.”
Runner-up Speediness is not entered for the Doncaster and trainer Colin Scott said the options included the Group One Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) in two weeks or the Listed JRA Plate (2000m) next Saturday.
Speediness’ effort to finish a close second had plenty of merit after sitting three-wide during the run.
“The blinkers will come off next start if he runs over 2000 metres,” Scott said.
“The Queen Elizabeth is the race we had in mind for him up here if he ran first or second today, but I’m not sure about him at weight-for-age.”
