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Miss Joelene looking to make more waves on the Gold Coast
Paul Symes
ANZ News
Tough as teak homebred mare Miss Joelene (Russian Revolution) will headline a three-pronged attack set to launch on the opening day of the Magic Millions Carnival for racing, breeding and life partners Darren Wilson and Janelle Whalley, who operate under the Wilrace banner.
The couple established Wilrace from the back yard of their suburban Brisbane property back in 2017, since when they have acquired some 15 broodmares and more recently purchased Washpool Lodge on Queensland’s famed Darling Downs, a boutique spelling and breaking in facility operated by Wilson’s son-in-law and elite Australian event rider Andrew Cooper.
As one of the first foals they reared, Miss Joelene has long been Wilrace’s flagbearer and if the Kelly Schweida-trained mare can successfully defend her title in Saturday’s Magic Millions The Wave (1800m) at the Gold Coast, she would break through $1.4 million in prize-money earnings.
Earlier on the twilight program, the recently gelded King Of Pop (Farnan) and their homebred chestnut Manpower (Trapeze Artist) will also carry the Wilrace blue and white silks in the Sunlight Consolation 3YO Plate (1100m).
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Wilson and Whalley will both be trackside to witness the action and while their stakes winner King Of Pop is well-fancied to make a triumphant return to action following a disappointing spring campaign, it is undoubtedly Miss Joelene who carries the greatest weight of expectation.
The five-year-old mare, a general $3 favourite for The Wave, will jump from barrier nine in the highly capable hands of Cejay Graham, the affable young rider who has been in the saddle for two of Miss Joelene’s seven career wins including her most recent success in the Tails Stakes (Listed, 1500m) at Eagle Farm.
All being well, Miss Joelene will progress to the $1 million Magic Millions Subzero (2200m) on Saturday week, with a trip south to Sydney provisionally pencilled in for the late autumn months.
“She’s in really great shape at the moment,” Whalley told ANZ News.
“She really seems to thrive in the stable environment and is loving life at the minute. Her last run [second in the Listed Members Mile] was another huge effort, she was ahead one stride after the line but she just couldn’t quite get there in time. It wasn’t for want of trying, she’s a mare that has tried her heart out from day one but being a backmarker, luck can often play a part in the result.
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“She’s well and truly ready for the step up in trip to 1800 metres now, the further the better for her at this stage of her preparation so the added distance of the Subzero would suit her even more the following week. She’s just so tough and honest, she’s very straightforward and quite relaxed at home but is a real competitor when she gets to the races.
“She was quite a gangly, narrow filly to begin with, but she’s really furnished and matured as she’s got older. She loves her work and she usually does better in the stables than she does in the paddock, although her most recent time off was probably the best she’s spelled and we’re now seeing the result of that in her performances on the racetrack.
“She’s often last on the turn and leaves herself too much to do, but hopefully she can be one or two pairs closer on Saturday. We’ll leave that up to Cejay, she knows the mare really well so we’re happy to trust her instincts. We had some offers from interstate jockeys to take the ride but we’re both generally pretty loyal people, and Cejay hasn’t done anything wrong on the mare. She’s done a good job and is riding well, so it wouldn’t be fair to take her off the horse.”
Miss Joelene is one of only two live foals produced by stakes-winning mare Cellargirl (More Than Ready), who sadly died while giving birth to a Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) filly which subsequently also perished.
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The other, Miss Joelene’s stablemate Autumngirl (The Autumn Sun), finished sixth over an unsuitably short distance at Eagle Farm on Wednesday afternoon. While the direct lineage has stopped there, Wilrace have high hopes for the progeny of Cellargirl’s half-sister Cellarmaid (Husson), who is carrying a foal by Darley’s talk of the town freshman sire Anamoe (Street Boss).
“It was terribly sad when we lost Cellargirl,” said Whalley.
“But we still feel very fortunate that we got Miss Joelene out of her, and hopefully Autumngirl can also find some form when she gets over further ground. Even if she doesn’t perform up to expectations, I’m sure she’ll still be capable of producing some very nice foals for us because as we’ve seen plenty of times in the past, some of the better broodmares haven’t necessarily had the greatest careers on the track.”
Whalley and Wilson will be hoping that theory applies to I Am Venus (I Am Invincible), their homebred mare whose speedy son Manpower - perhaps ironically given his moniker - carries the hopes of his all-female ownership group in Saturday’s $250,000 Sunlight Consolation Plate.
The three-year-old is trained by Whalley’s son-in-law Adam Campton, who also prepares Manpower’s half-brother King Of The Road (Bivouac), a juvenile colt yet to make his debut.
I Am Venus was a reasonably moderate performer on the racetrack but she has made a very encouraging start to her time in the breeding barn, with her first foal Pride Of Venus (Pride Of Dubai) having won four of her six starts this prep for Rockhampton trainer Clinton Taylor.
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If her second foal Manpower, who flew out of the blocks with back-to-back wins this campaign, can outrun his price of $35 on his home track on Saturday, Whalley would be delighted if not entirely surprised.
“We’re actually pretty hopeful that he can run well on Saturday,” she said.
“He didn’t run up to his best at his last start, but he pulled up with the thumps so there were legitimate excuses. But everything seems to be fine with him now, so even though it’s a much harder race on Saturday I would still expect to see him improve on his last run.”
Given that King Of Pop won the Black Opal Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) and was beaten a head in the Kindergarten Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) by North Of England (Farnan), the gelding is clearly the class horse in the Sunlight Consolation Plate field but he will need to rediscover his mojo having lost his way during the spring.
Perhaps his mind was on other matters, hence the gelding operation which Whalley hopes will be the making of him.
“He was very impressive in his first prep but then he didn’t stand up second time around,” she said.
“He’s been working well and we’re hoping that the travel up to the Gold Coast and a change of scenery will help spark him into life. He’s drawn perfectly in barrier five and Gerald [Ryan] is very happy with him, so there won’t be any excuses on Saturday and we just need him to put his hand up again.
“We don’t have any firm plans with him after Saturday, it will all depend on how he runs but hopefully he can find some form again because he’s a very good horse on his day. The Farnans are going particularly well at the moment, so hopefully he can build on that momentum.”
