Big day at Kellerberrin for Anderson and Wheeler

Troopingofthecolour (Follow The Stars) has done a great job on the track, but when Chris Voak made the decision to send the gelding home after his last start on June 10 at Northam in the York Cup, Peter Anderson jumped at the opportunity to lease the now 12-time winner.

“Bob (Fowler) was looking to lease him out, and I put my hand up,

“I had him for his first couple of starts before he was sent to Justin Prentice,

“He won his first race for Justin before I got him back again, and then he went on to Chris Voak.”

Starting first up for the Peter Anderson stable at Kellerberrin on Sunday the 13th of August in the $8000 Merredin Cup, Anderson was confident the five-year-old could get the job done in the feature.

With Trent Wheeler on board, there was plenty of speed for the lead between Gordon and the race favourite, Johnny Lombo, and with a first quarter of 28.6, and after spending most of his time in the breeze, Troopingofthecolour claimed the feature with a strong winning margin of 8.6m in 1:59:3 over the 2130m trip.

When in the care of Chris Voak earlier this year, the talented gelding added the 2023 Northam Cup to his resume, with yesterday’s run taking his earnings to just over $100,000 not including the bonuses he accumulated during his two and three-year-old seasons, with 79 starts now under his belt for 12 wins and 19 placings.

TROOPINGOFTHECOLOUR REPLAY

Anderson celebrated a training treble on the day with a win earlier with Follow The Milkyway.  The four-year-old daughter of Follow The Stars brought up her second career win in 23 starts, breaking a losing sequence of 13 starts.  Driven by Wheeler, the pair took a narrow victory after a thrilling run to the line in the third event on the card.  Follow The Milkyway came out on top for a half-head margin over the 2130m trip in 2:03:0.

Anderson closed the meeting with the win with five-year-old Our Glowing Start after sitting in the breeze for the majority, the final leg of his training treble. Breaking a 24-race losing sequence, the mare had her last win in November 2022 at Narrogin for Kayla Trewenack before making her way back to Anderson’s stable just four starts later.

It was Wheeler’s day though, with the country driving specialist walking away with five winners under his belt. With his first win in the second on the day, Wheeler was able to settle behind the leader in the 4YO+ Westbred Maiden over the 1730m trip on board the Hayden Reeves trained Wedu Whitby Voodoo, coming home the better to win by 2.8m over stablemate Bardan Kid.

Hayden Reeves prepared the trifecta in race two, with Wedo Whitby Voodoo, Bardan Kid and Seven Million More taking top three in the maiden.

Our Lady Jen continued her fantastic form for Jesse Moore, with the three-year-old filly making it two in a row for the stable.  Driven by Trent Wheeler, he was able to lead all the way on the $1.10 favourite in a winning mile rate of 2:01:7 over the 2130m journey.

Kellerberrin once again proving a fantastic day out for Peter Anderson and Trent Wheeler, with both walking away with their respective honours.

For complete race results, click here.

by Ashleigh Paikos, for RWWA