Drummond Golf - Kingston Town Classic (Group 1)

WEST Australian owner/breeder Bob Peters celebrated a clean sweep of Ascot’s summer Group 1s, though not with the horse most thought would win the Kingston Town Classic.

Regal Power defeated his stablemate, red-hot $1.20 favourite Western Empire, to complete the treble for the Peters-owned and Grant and Alana Williams-trained horses following wins in the Railway Stakes and Winterbottom Stakes by Western Empire and Graceful Girl respectively.

Regal Power (Pierro), the 2020 All Star Mile winner, took advantage of Western Empire being stuck wide throughout the 1,800 metres to storm over the top and land the Group 1.

Going well

“We knew that Western Empire was fit and healthy, and when I looked at the field, I thought he (Regal Power) was probably the most likely one to be able to beat Western Empire,” said Peters.

“I told anyone that would listen that this horse was going well. He’s a proven weight for age horse, he’s raced in top company and when he’s right, he’s quite a good horse.”

BACK in Queensland, where he was bred, the Caulfield Cup winner Incentivise is facing an extended stay on the sidelines after it was revealed he has injuries to both front suspensory ligaments.

“He is up here at the moment recovering, he has substantial follow-up treatment to come including PRP (Plasma-Rich Protein) and he has to have shockwave treatment every week,” reported Steve Tregea, Incentivise’s owner, trainer and breeder who sold 50% of the gelding for a reported A$1.2 million in June before the horses meteoric rise during the Spring Carnival under the care of Peter Moody.

JAMIE Kah is back in the winners stall, taking out Saturday’s feature, the Listed Pakenham Cup worth A$300,000 over 2,500 metres.

Legged up aboard the race favourite Smokin’ Romans by David Eustace, Kah settled one off the pace.

Coasting to the lead on the bend, she kept the pressure on as Smokin’ Romans cruised home by two lengths, her first winner in three and a half months since her Covid-related suspension.

“It’s great, terrific to be back, it’s amazing, I’ve missed it greatly. To come back and get a winner like that is very rewarding and I’m just happy to be back,” said an ebullient Kah who had time to salute the crowd approaching the line.

“It’s great to have her back,” concurred Eustace after the race. “She’s a star of the sport. She’s just a very naturally gifted rider. It’s a rare thing. She’s got it and horses run for her.”

The win brings Kah’s metropolitan tally five, 22 behind Damien Lane who leads the Premiership, though not an insurmountable figure considering she won last season’s Premiership by a margin of 43 from Lane.

RACING Victoria chairman Brian Kruger has flagged changes to the international protocols for 2022.

“Our team are working with some external people at the moment and doing a lot of reviewing, talking to all the people involved with it, just to understand whether there are elements that can be tweaked,” said Kruger.

“I don’t think you will see wholesale changes for next year. But there might be some things we can do that don’t materially change the risk profile.”

While the discussion on the After The Last show on Racing.com didn’t give a timeline to changes, Kruger has now laid out the groundwork for a reset.

“Without wanting to remove the objective of having safe racing, I’d like to see a bit more international participation in those marquee races,” he added.