Watch Me Rock and Storyville Showcase Form in Lark Hill Trials
Watch Me Rock and Storyville warmed up for their upcoming interstate campaigns with solid performances in trials at Lark Hill on Monday morning. The duo, trained for eastern states raids this autumn, used the sessions to fine-tune their fitness ahead of major targets.
Watch Me Rock Dominates in Trial Victory
Watch Me Rock, who claimed a maiden Group 1 victory in the 2025 Railway Stakes and was narrowly beaten in the Northerly Stakes, continued his preparation with a taking triumph in Monday's fourth heat. Sent forward by jockey William Pike, the five-year-old gelding sat a length off the leader Six Shooter before joining issue at the 200m mark.
Given a reminder at the 100m, Watch Me Rock surged away to score by a length from Antique Miss and Six Shooter. Impressively, the son of Awesome Rock pricked his ears over the final stages and clearly had more to give had Pike called on his reserves.
"That's very much the way he is," Pike said. "I wouldn't normally ask a horse for an effort in a trial, but he waits when he gets to the front and always has. But he's got a mission he's set for and will get fitness benefit out of it. He felt good, and I was happy with his trial."
Eastern States Campaign and All Star Mile Ambitions
Watch Me Rock is a likely candidate for the $2 million All Star Mile at Flemington on March 7, a race Pike won aboard Regal Power in 2020. The leading rider is keen to take the steer in that event aboard the gelding, who will voyage to Melbourne next Monday alongside stablemate Storyville.
This trial followed a comfortable second-place finish at Lark Hill a fortnight ago, indicating steady progress in his campaign. The performances have solidified plans for an eastern states raid this autumn, building on his strong form from last season.
Storyville Shows Promise Despite Incident
In the following trial, Storyville was taken back to last position by Pike. When pacesetter Capre Omnia fell at the 400m mark, Pike pulled the four-year-old to the extreme outside. When given encouragement over the late part, she responded purposefully to finish only two-and-a-half lengths from former training companions Sensessional and Fluro Neuro.
"She's obviously got easier tasks to go for and she's not the type to win over 1000m," Pike said. "She settled, which is often a struggle with her."
Austin Galati, rider of Capre Omnia, fortunately emerged largely unscathed from the incident and was cleared by paramedics at the scene.
Victorian Trainers Achieve Legal Victory
In related racing news, a group of Victorian trainers have achieved a significant legal victory over Racing Victoria after critical evidence was withdrawn pertaining to horses testing positive to a banned breast cancer drug. Racing Victoria conceded that the charged trainers did not administer the drug to their runners.
However, part of the agreement tendered by Racing Victoria's legal counsel asserts that the five stables change their presentation charge to guilty. The trainers had been forced to spend thousands of dollars defending their reputation throughout the proceedings.
