Promising filly Captainshavtime produced a remarkable performance to win the Retravision, Why Shop Anywhere Else Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night when she swung sideways in the early stages of the score-up and was at least 100 metres behind her nine rivals as they moved in behind the mobile barrier.
“She wasn’t entitled to win, but she is just so tough,” said her driver Deni Roberts after the New Zealand-bred three-year-old, a $7.30 chance, had defeated Our Rich Cargo ($9.50) and the $1.45 favourite Fakenit.
“She jacked up against the lugging pole and did a spin and then did a heap of work to catch up with the gate.”
Not only did Captainshavtime expend an enormous amount of energy to arrive behind the mobile barrier at release point, but she burst straight to the front and gave a bold frontrunning exhibition to win at a 1.55.7 rate over 2130m.
“After a lead time of 37.3sec. and a first quarter of 30sec. she ran the next quarter in 27.4sec.,” said Roberts. “She hadn’t had a breather, so I said, ‘oh well, we’ve gone this far, we might as well keep going’ and the filly dashed over the final 800m in 58.4sec. She had lost 100 metres, easily, in the score-up, maybe more.”
Fakenit, a dazzling winner of the WA Oaks a fortnight earlier, was not bustled out from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line, and she was last at the bell before finishing determinedly to be third.
Captainshavtime is by American sire Captain Crunch and is the first foal out of Betterthanbrie, who raced 44 times for five wins, 12 placings and $50,897. She won once from three starts in New Zealand, and her 16 starts in WA for leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond have produced seven wins and three placings, taking her career record to 19 starts for eight wins, four placings and $100,195.
Captainshavtime is raced by Team Bond and the filly’s breeder Murray Little. She was passed in at the 2023 New Zealand national standardbred sale after failing to reach her reserve price of $25,000.
Friday night’s win completed a treble for the Bond camp and for Roberts, who had been successful earlier in the night with Tualou and Bettor Fortune.
Tualou was a $20.70 chance from barrier seven in the $27,000 Electrolux Golden Nugget Prelude in which he surged home from seventh at the bell to hit the front on the home turn and win by a length from Im Lightning Banner ($19), rating 1.56.1 over 2536m.
This was a milestone for Roberts --- her 100TH win for the season, following 201 wins in 2023 and 172 in 2024.
“Tualou can do a bit of work in his races, and this was a perfect lead-in for the Nugget,” said Roberts. “We’ve had a few things go wrong with him, but I think he is back on the right track now.”
Tualou is by Sweet Lou and is the second foal out of Mach Three mare Ask Again. She is raced by her breeders Les and Marion Pettifer and Greg Bond and has had 21 starts for nine wins, four placings and $105,450 in prizemoney.
