Penny Black Enters “Beast Mode” Following Group Three Win

Penny Black (NZ) (Sweet Lou) continues to go from strength-to-strength in Western Australia, adding another victory to her tally when winning last Friday’s Group Three Westinghouse - The Schrader (2130m) at Gloucester Park. 

Drawing one on the second line, driver Emily Suvaljko was keen to extricate herself off the marker pegs and she was able to do just that thanks to the early injection of speed in the race.

Suvaljko found the one-one before initial leader Sweet Vivienne broke when crossed, and in the resulting skirmish, Suvaljjo took advantage of the situation and pushed forward to take Penny Black to the lead.

The pair dictated terms for the remainder of the journey and were left untouched upfront, eventually running out to a comfortable 4.3m victory.

“The plan was always to try and get off the fence if we could, but it wasn’t race over if we couldn’t either,” Suvaljko said. “We were able to get a perfect run through, we couldn’t have scripted it any better. She was able to find the front and after that the race was all over.”

Penny Black has now won three of her last four starts, including two at Group Three level, and Suvaljko said she has been impressed with the way she is performing this preparation.

“She has just come back in beast mode,” Suvaljko said. “She looks the part and she is running the part - she is really running away from them.

“We have really just added that versatility where we can go a bit slower and still sprint home a really good half. It is really good to have up our sleeve.”

Penny Black hails from the famed Black Watch family, with her dam, Tessa Rocks, being a full-sister to Group Three winner Crystal Sparkles.

She was offered through Dunvegan Lodge’s 2021 NZB Standardbred National Yearling Sale draft at Christchurch where she was passed in after failing to reach her $10,000 reserve.

She was subsequently entrusted to the care of Pukekohe trainer Jeremy Young before being sold to her current ownership group following her maiden win at Alexandra Park in December, 2023.

She made an instant impact in Western Australia, winning her first six starts, and she has continued to go from strength-to-strength.

She has now won 15 and placed in 10 of her 33 career starts, and has earned more than A$290,000 in prizemoney.

Vendor	Dunvegan Lodge
Purchaser	Passed In
Owner(s)	O Cownie, A G Durrant, D C Perrella, D D Leppard, J Beard, J S Boyd, K A Tattoli, M D Leppard, R M McKay, S G Murphy, W Leppard
Breeding	Sweet Lou - Tessa Rocks
Sale	2021 National Standardbred Yearling Sale, Christchurch
Breeder(s)	M D Pierson, M W Pierson, J R Pierson