It was looking dire for Another Wil when locked away on the fence with 200m to run of The Damien Oliver (1400m) at Flemington, but this was a race he was destined to win.
Ridden by Jamie Kah for Ciaron Maher, Another Will was stopped in his tracks behind the tiring The Astroligist, but one in clear air, the son of Street Boss (USA) displayed a brilliant turn of foot.
Sporting the silks of his breeder, the late Col McKenna, Another Wil defeated his stablemate Jimmysstar (Per Incanto) by one and a quarter lengths, with Steparty (Artie Schiller) three-quarters of a length back in third.
Coming off a disappointing seventh in the Group 1 Toorak Hcp, Another Wil advances his record to eight wins, a second, and a third from 12 starts with earnings of $912,100.
“It's pretty special. A lot of Col’s family and friends are in the horse. That's why he loves racing,” an emotional Maher said.
“He bred it, there’s no more passionate person. Great mate, great mentor. He would just love to be here today. But I'm sure he's looking down.
“Col’s wife Janice is watching on at Woolsthorpe- all the best to you.
“Great job by the team. Just changed things up a little bit for him, brought him down to Cranbourne, just that simple fact, the change.”
“Jamie knows him very well. He's a very progressive horse and I probably got it wrong last start.
“Jimmy (Jimmysstar) was great. I thought he had the momentum there to knock Wil off.
Jimmy' s a very good horse. To have a better turn of foot than him is hard to do.
“The Rupert Clarke is possible and we might even have a nom in the Champions Mile.”
“I think both Col and Janice rang Jamie every day, on a number of occasions for different reasons. He’s been a shoulder to lean on, you just would not know how many people Col touched, and Jamie a great example.”
“He’ll be sadly missed, and I'm sure next Friday there'll be a lot of people there celebrating him.”
Jamie Kah said the
“Janice, I spoke to her this morning. She's tougher than me. She told me, 'Don't be a sook, you'll be right, be tough,” Kah revealed.
“Oh, God, what amazing people they have around Janice at the moment.
“It'd be extremely hard for her, but she's just so tough and she's coping so well. Today, I just wanted to make Col proud, and thank God we got the win in the end.
“There was a few tight gaps we had to get through, and he honestly didn't feel like he was travelling that well on the turn.
“When we took the first gap, something picked us up and carried us over the line because he felt like he was probably struggling a little bit. His turn of foot in the last 200 metres, that was just unreal.
“This is for you, Col, he’d be watching, and hopefully one day I can be doing this in a Group One for him.
“I definitely think we had some help then. Everything opened up and it doesn't normally.
“Col, if you can keep helping me out the rest of the day, that'd be fantastic.”
A half-brother to Grand National Hurdle winner Will John (Reset) and stakes-placed Wahine Toa (Dalakhani), Another Wil is the fourth winner from as many to race for the winning Bianconi (USA) mare Arohanui, who Maher purchased for $30,000 at the 2010 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
From the family of Group 1 AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Alf, Arohanui died in 2021. Her final foal is an unraced 3-year-old filly by Puissance De Lune (IRE).
