Toolern Vale hobby trainer Joe Vassallo has a penchant for the progeny of the American-bred trotting sire Pegasus Spur.
I Am Pegasus, the star of his small team of trotters, is one of the best performers sired by the S J’s Photo horse. She has won 10 races so far including the Vicbred 3YO Final and Lyn McPherson Memorial and $135,500 in stakes.
Looking to purchase another of the Pegasus Spur stock, Vassallo and his brother Sam attended the Australasian Premier Trotting Sale in 2019.
“I Am Pegasus had only just started racing at the time of the sale but we knew she had plenty of ability,” Vassallo said.
The brothers outlaid $15,000 for the first of two Pegasus Spur progeny to go through the ring, a filly bred by Cranbourne identity David Scott out of the successful Sundon mare Sunny Folly NZ. She ranked as a half-sister to six winners including The Redwood winner Elusive Charm and the $140,000 earner Invasive.
Now racing at Silent Reverie, the four-year-old is starting to make a name for herself in her own right.
She notched her third lifetime success at Kilmore recently, leading throughout and narrowly beating Evas Image, a graduate of the same APTS sale as that which produced Silent Reverie.
“She’s made four Group 1 finals – the Vicbred 2YO and 3YO, Breeders Crown and the APTS sales race,” Vassallo stated.
“We’re hoping she can continue to improve and win a few more races.”
Queen Invasion, another graduate of the 2019 APTS sale, won for the fourth time on the same card at Kilmore. Other APTS sale winners this week have been Princess Faith (Menangle), Maestro (Bendigo) and Aldebaran Demi (Kilmore).