The Grant and Alana Williams trained Storyville rubber-stamped her readiness for Saturday’s Group 1 Railway Stakes when she powered home along the rail under the usual strong ride by Willie Pike to edge out a wall of horses in a testing finish in the Group 3 R J Peters Stakes over 1500m.
Storyville was both an interesting runner and an interesting winner.
The daughter of Overshare did not have to run in the R J Peters, which guarantees the winner a ballot-free entry into the Railway Stakes, because she had already secured a ballot-free entry into that $1.5 million contest, but, by running and winning she trimmed the wings of a couple of lively opponents, denying the pre-race Railway Stakes favourite Cosmic Crusader and Bonjoy passage into the big feature, as those runners both needed to win the race to progress into the Railway Stakes field.
So, in a sense, it was a job well done on two fronts, but it did beg the question … was running Storyville in a real tester on Saturday with the mare then having to go into the Railway Stakes on a seven-day backup the best option?
“We were trying to keep people out of the Railway, that’s all … but, no, look, all jokes aside, she is a handful … she is silly to get on … and we do need to take the edge off her,” answered co-trainer Grant Williams, the man who should know.
“The Railway Stakes is going to be the hardest race she has ever been in, so we have just got to do the best thing we can … and I think the best thing we can do is race her.”
The win would also have been of particular interest to jockey Fred Kersley who will get the leg-up on Storyville on Saturday.
The Williams team have two other runners in the Railway Stakes. Billy Egan will be riding Western Empire, who won the $1.5 million Gold Rush last December, and Willie Pike rides Watch Me Rock, a ten-time winner from eighteen starts … thus opening the door for Kersley, who has been riding in Victoria, but who started his riding career in Western Australia.
With Cosmic Crusader’s failure to make the field, the revised betting now suggests that the Grant and Alana Williams trio are in the pound seats with Watch Me Rock and Western Empire both topping the boards at $4.50 with Storyville one of three runners next on offer at $7 with betting sites.
