Cats Whisker Goes On Winning Way

Quality Fusaichi Pegasus mare Cats Whisker posted her second successive win this spring when scoring a dashing victory in the Group Two VRC Lets Elope Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.

The Rockmount pretrained mare was ridden a confident race by Steven King, driven forward to sit just off the lead before powering clear to win the 1400 metre event by more than a length over Romneya, another Rockmount graduate.

Trainer Mark Kavanagh said a major factor behind Cats Whiskers’ win was that she had only been Group One placed behind Gallica last spring, avoiding a weight penalty for the Let’s Elope Stakes as a result.

“When they are Group One placed and manage to get in on the limit or only a kilo above the limit, mares get a great advantage,” Kavanagh said.

“Gallica won the races and Cats Whisker ran second so we have to thank Gallica.”

Kavanagh indicated Cats Whisker would step up to weight-for-age level in the Group Two Stocks Stakes over 1600 metres next Saturday at Moonee Valley.

A daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, Cats Whisker has the tidy record of five wins and three placings from 11 starts with prizemoney in excess of $440,000.