Exciting mare Walsh Bay rubber-stamped her remarkable rise through the grades with a thumping victory in the Toowoomba Cup (2000m) at Clifford Park on Saturday.
The slashing win handed trainer Chris Munce his second Toowoomba Cup in just three years after he landed the race in 2023 with Military Gambler, but this time around he had son Corey by his training side to revel in the victory.
Walsh Bay went into the Toowoomba Cup on the strength of a Class 6 Gold Coast win just seven days earlier, continuing a whirlwind preparation which launched with a lowly Benchmark 62 success back in July.
But the progressive four-year-old Deep Field mare has continued to step up to the plate, with Saturday’s Toowoomba Cup success extending her record to seven wins from 14 appearances, including her past three straight.
“She’s just so tough and has done such an outstanding job this time in,” stable representative Alister Ross said.
“Right through the preparation she’s just kept stepping up and raising the bar and the team at home have done such a great job with her.
“She’s a really sweet filly but can be a bit cantankerous at home but came up here great.
“When she won like she did over 1800m last week she licked the bin right out and absolutely flourished and now she’s won a Toowoomba Cup.
“It was great to watch, a fantastic ride by Damien (Thornton) as well.”
Thornton, who was also aboard for Munce when Military Gambler scored in 2023, was in high praise of the rising mare’s dashing performance at her 2000 metre debut.
“She’s absolutely airborne,” Thornton beamed post race.
“In a couple of months she’s gone from winning a (benchmark) 62 to winning a Toowoomba Cup with a leg in the air.
“All she got was a little fairy tap from me in the run home. She did it all on her own steam.”
Walsh Bay ($4.60) scored by just over three lengths on the line over Caboche ($14) while Nikau Spur ($41) ran a gallant race for third.
Interestingly, they were the same placings from the 2024 Toowoomba Cup, in which Nikau Spur finished second and Caboche third behind the winner Red Wave.
The well-backed race favourite Kettle Hill finished fifth.
