Trainer Trevor Andrews revealed Luana Miss was still soft going into Saturday’s LR Supremacy Stakes (1000m) and that spells trouble for the beaten brigade leading into the G2 Karrakatta Plate (1200m) on April 26.
Luana Miss (2f Bivouac – Little Bit Ditsy by Bel Esprit) firmed into a $4.20 favourite for Perth’s 2yo grand-final after defeating long odds-on favourite Yes Queen (Yes Yes Yes) with something to spare at her second start while stopping the clock at 57.90s.
“We knew the speed would be on and I thought the favourite would be more forward than our filly first-up,” Andrews said. “She’s not fully wound up but Shaun (O’Donnell) got her to relax and conserve energy back in the field.
“She’s a high-energy filly and has to be handled with kid gloves by my wife Jo and our staff. She really found the line today and will handle longer distances going into the Gimcrack Stakes (1100m) and Karrakatta Plate (1200m).”
The Supremacy Stakes (Photo / Western Racepix) confirmed Perth’s 2yo fillies have a stranglehold on the $500,000 Karrakatta. Luana Miss is the new $4.20 favourite ahead of Yes Queen ($4.40) and the following four lines in pre-post markets are all filled by fillies – Talkanco ($4.80), She’s Hot ($6.50), God’s Rapture ($8) and Perfectly Proper ($13).
Luana Miss was the first Australian winner for Darley Stud sire Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) when successful on debut in the Magic Millions Plate (1000m) at Ascot in January. “Her manners have improved since then although she can still be a bit skittish,” O’Donnell admitted. “I knew I had it won on the corner today. I just clicked her up and she was awesome.”
Darling View Thoroughbreds bred and sold her for $110,000 at the 2024 Perth Magic Millions Sale. Her two wins from as many starts for a large stable syndicate have returned $156,000 including Westspeed Bonuses of $44,000.
The Mundijong nursery purchased her black-type dam Little Bit Ditsy (Bel Esprit) carrying a PPT to Bivouac for $160,000 at the 2022 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. Her yearling filly by Farnan was retained after coming up short of a $150,000 reserve at this year’s Perth Magic Millions. Darling View had also kept the mare at home earlier this season for a cover by resident sire Playing God.
