Arcadia Queen found her winning groove again with a dominant win in Saturday’s Gr1 Caulfield Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield.
Arcadia Queen won the Gr I Kingston Town Classic in Perth as a three year-old, but has mixed her form a little since then with a stint in Sydney under the care of Chris Waller proving less successful than hoped for.
Third to Russian Camelot last start, Arcadia Queen enjoyed the good track and had her bar racing plates removed for this run indicating her feet must now be in top condition.
Last before the home turn Willie Pike eased the Pierro mare into running room in the home straight before surging past the odds-on favourite Russian Camelot (Camelot) to win by more than a length.
Arcadia Queen was one of four winners on the day for her rider Willie Pike.
“I knew my chance was to catch him in the last 200 and that’s what happened,” Pike told broadcaster Racingdotcom.
“I am pretty proud of her. She’s always been a stable favourite and it’s great to see her back in the winner’s list.”
The Cox Plate is next on the agenda for Arcadia Queen, a homebred for Bob and Sandra Peters and trained by Grant and Alana Williams with seven wins and three placings from 13 starts and prizemoney exceeding $2.4 million.