Natasha (Old Spice) was the filly which launched Peters' leviathan breeding and racing operation in 1990, winning the WA Oaks, then run at Group 1 level, in the first major success for the now famous cerise and white.
Peters Investments' domination of the WA Oaks is near unmatched in Australian racing, winning the race 11 times as an owner, including the past six editions with Delicacy (Al Maher), First Impressions (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), Very Tempting (Redoute's Choice), Special Alert (Not A Single Doubt) and Dark Choice (Redoute's Choice).
Bob and Sandra Peters
As the premier 3-year-old fillies race in Perth, it has been a race that Peters has particularly targeted and it was always on the radar of the well-bred Tuscan Queen, according to co-trainer Alana Williams.
"She always had a certain amount of class about her. She was very professional and this was the race she was set for all along. She has done what we thought she could," Williams, who trains with her husband Grant, said.
"The good ones pick themselves but it's a long road to get here, to get them right and the Oaks and the Derby are what we target, so it is good when we can pull one off."
"She always had a certain amount of class about her. She was very professional and this was the race she was set for all along." - Alana Williams
It was the fourth consecutive success for Grant and Alana in partnership, and Grant's seventh win in the race overall, while it was jockey William Pike's fifth Oaks win.
Peters has been fortunate to have a trio of special fillies go on and do the Oaks-Derby double, Old Money (Old Spice) in 2000, Dreamaway (More Than Ready {USA}) in 2011 and Delicacy in 2015, and Tuscan Queen will be aiming to become number four, and his 10th Derby winner overall, on April 11.
Having won the Oaks in such dominant fashion, sweeping home to a clear 2l victory on Saturday, she is odds-on to do just that against the boys in two weeks' time. Victory would represent a Derby hat-trick for Peters, the Williamses and Pike, who have won the past two editions with the brothers Action (Pierro) and Regal Power (Pierro).
Peters and the Williamses will also have Midnight Blue (So You Think {NZ}) and Bogart (Redoute's Choice) in the race, while Grant and Alana also likely have current second favourite Cryptic Wonder (My Admiration), one of their few horses not raced in the cerise and white.
An Easter delight
Tuscan Queen was one of a handful of fillies that Peters purchased out of the eastern states sales, with Belmont Bloodstock's Damon Gabbedy signing for her for $300,000 at the 2018 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale on Peters behalf out of the Coolmore draft.
Her dam Tavarnelle (Zabeel {NZ}) was initially purchased by Colm Santry on behalf of Michael Crismale's Matrix Bloodstock at the 2010 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka for NZ$330,000.
Tuscan Queen was a $300,000 yearling from the draft of Coolmore
Raced by Crismale for trainers John, Wayne and Michael Hawkes, she won three races, the most significant being the G3 Frances Tressady S. at Flemington.
Like the mare herself, her first two yearlings, Justice Glory (Fastnet Rock) and Lacazette (Fastnet Rock) went through the Karaka sales ring, fetching NZ$420,000 and NZ$230,000 respectively. Justice Glory won two races in Australia and now one in Singapore, while Lacazette, who was also raced by Crismale, had four starts for a win with Team Hawkes and is now in foal to Shalaa (Ire).
The 2-year-old colt Stonehenge (Fastnet Rock), was a $100,000 purchase for Santry at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale last year and is with trainer John O'Shea.
Tavarnelle's yearling filly by American Pharoah (USA) is being offered by Lime Country Thoroughbreds at the upcoming Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale as Lot 237 and her pedigree got a nice black-type update with Tuscan Queen's win.
Watch: Lot 237 - American Pharoah (USA) x Tavarnelle (filly)
Tavarnelle also has an American Pharoah filly weanling.
Tuscan Queen's WA Oaks success was another success for Coolmore's Fastnet Rock, who is enjoying a purple patch of good results at the moment. His progeny have delivered 11 stakes wins since the start of 2020, including four at Group 1 level.
Fastnet Rock also celebrated the his 100th Australian winner of the season on Saturday, the ninth year in a row he has notched a century.
