Harness
APG WA Sales Classic Highlights
Further rich plums are on the menu for exciting youngster Hez the Boss after he carried too many guns for his rivals when he sped to victory in the $125,000 APG WA Sales Classic for two-year-old colts and geldings over 1730m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Ace trainer Colin Brown has a high opinion of the gelding, who will be aimed at further lucrative events later in the year.
Hez The Boss will now be sent for a spell before being prepared for the $250,000 Pearl Classic (August 7), the $215,000 Westbred Classic (September 4) and the $150,000 Golden Slipper (September 25).
Hez The Boss was the $2.30 second fancy from out wide at barrier eight on Friday night, and Gary Hall jnr was aiming to race the gelding with a sit.
"I was planning on sitting him up and hoping that there would be plenty of speed before using Hez The Boss's fast sprint," said Hall. "I saw that no one was going early, and a gap appeared, one out and one back. I had my eye on that, but I just missed getting there. So, I just kept going."
Hez the Boss then surged to the front after 450m, and he was able to cruise through the second 400m section in 30.9sec. before covering the next quarters in 29.3sec. and 29sec. to win by just over two lengths from $71 outsider Rip Tide, who was fastest to begin (from barrier seven) and then enjoyed the perfect trail behind the frontrunning Hez The Boss.
Ideal Whisper, the $2.20 favourite, raced three back on the pegs and was badly hemmed in during the final circuit before finally getting clear in the late stages and finishing fast into third place.
Hez the Boss is by the Somebeachsomewhere stallion Poster Boy and is the seventh foal out of New Zealand-bred mare Falcons Gem, who was retired after racing three times as a three-year-old at Pinjarra in August 2011for a third, fourth and fifth placing for earnings of $827.
Falcons Gem's claim to fame is that she is a younger sister of Ebony Gem, who won the 2008 Chariots Of Fire at Harold Park, beating Lombo Pocket Watch by a half-head.
Falcons Gem is also the dam of Menemsha, who has earned $357,859 from eight wins and 18 placings from 45 starts, including the group 1 Westbred Classic for two-year-old colts and geldings in September 2023 three weeks after winning the Pearl Classic and a year before finishing second to Christopher Dance in the WA Derby, and then as a four-year-old winning the group 3 August Cup from Rolling Fire.
Brown now has won the Sales Classic for two-year-old colts and geldings three times, with his previous successes as a trainer and driver being with Armadon (2002) and Its Rock And Roll (2018).
For Hall, Friday night's success was his sixth in the classic, following the wins of Blissfull Boy (2010), Black Aquila (2011), Almightyjoelouis (2016), Valedictorian (2022) and Ideal Beach (2025).
Hall gained the drive behind Hez The Boss after his partner Maddison Brown recommended him to her father (Colin) because she was planning to be in Melbourne in recent weeks as the trackrider and strapper for WA galloper and the 2025 Railway Stakes winner Watch Me Rock during his Victorian campaign.
Colin Brown said that before Maddison drove Hez The Boss on his debut at Pinjarra on January 26, the gelding couldn't run a mile quicker than 2.5 on the track --- and then revealed great pace on debut when leading and sprinting over the final quarters in 28sec. and 27.9sec. before finishing a nose second to Seaside Serenade.
Hall has now driven Hez The Boss three times for three impressive victories. The gelding has earned $84,636. He was purchased for $100,000 by Liam O'Connor at the 2025 APG Perth yearling sale.
"Liam then asked breeders Trevor and Colleen Lindsay if they would like a 20 per cent share in Hez The Boss, an offer they were happy to accept," said Brown.
Watch Race Replay Here
Baskerville trainer Ryan Bell and owners Albert and Julie Walmsley completed a hat-trick of victories in the $125,000 APG Sales Classic for two-year-old fillies when Liam Elliott drove Seaside Serenade to an effortless all-the-way victory at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Seaside Serenade, the $1.04 favourite, coasted to a two-length victory over the $10 second fancy All Out Of Aces to remain undefeated after four starts, netting the owners $88,222 in prizemoney after purchasing the filly for $35,000 after she had been passed in when failing to reach her reserve price of $30,000 at the 2025 Perth APG yearling sale.
Bell and the Walmsleys had combined to win the two previous Sales Classic events for two-year-old fillies with Copper Head Lady beating her stablemate Bettagetonpip in 2024 and Ma Petite Dame eading and winning from Wishing Belle last year.
Seaside Serenade was bred by Kevin Charles, and she is the second foal out of the Sportswriter mare Tenniele Erin, who won the Sales Classic for two-year-old fillies in April 2017. Tenniele Erin's first foal Koojan has won at two of his first eleven starts and looks set for good career.
Early next year Bell and the Walmsleys will be looking forward to equalling the performance of trainer-reinsman Trevor Warwick and breeder-owner Mick Lombardo, who won the Sales Classic for two-year-old fillies four years in a row --- scoring with Concorde Lombo (1996), Tailamade Lombo (1997), Lombo Rapida (1998) and Lombo Quest (1999).
"Seaside Serenade is a mature filly who is on tired legs at the moment," said Bell. "All week we have been keeping her nice and fresh, and she will now go for a spell.
"She will chill at home before I drop her off at Albert's property in Success on Tuesday. She will stay there for four to six weeks, and then the plan will be for her to have four more starts as a two-year-old --- in a heat and hopefully the final of the $250,000 Diamond Classic (on August 7) and in a heat and the final of the $215,000 Westbred Classic the following month."
Bell, Elliott and the Walmsleys completed doubles on Friday night when Franco Encore bounced back to his best form with an easy win in the APG, Industry Owned, Not For Profit Pace over 1730m.
Franco Encore, a New Zealand-bred five-year-old, was the $3.20 favourite who began speedily from the No. 4 barrier to burst to the front after 150m, and after an opening 800m of a casual 60sec. he sprinted over the final quarters in 27.5sec. and 28sec. to win by five lengths from $7 chance Hotly Pursued, with Tualou ($4) exploding from tenth with 50m to travel to finish a spectacular third.
"Franco Encore is starting to live up to what I've always thought he could be," said Bell. "It was nice to get the slow sectionals early, and he will back up in the Pinjarra Cup on Monday when I don't think he will disgrace himself.
"At home, he is now starting to cop the work better than ever, and he is starting to become the full package. He is not purely a frontrunner; he has good high speed and given the right circumstances he can come from behind."
Elliott said that this was the perfect race for Franco Encore. "He has been crying out for a (favourable) draw, and has been racing without luck, bolting to the line with the plugs in."
Albert Walmsley went on a buying spree at the APG standardbred yearling sale on Sunday when he outlaid $946,000 to purchase five fillies and four colts. He paid the top price of $200,000 at the sale to buy a full sister to Seaside Serenade, and he also spent $180,000 for a half brother to Hez The Boss, who won the Sales Classic for colts and geldings on Friday night.
Others prominent at Sunday's sales included Jim Giumelli and Team Bond, with Giumelli parting with $533,000 to buy eight yearlings. Team Bond outlaid $355,000 for four yearlings
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