Australia: Inspirational Girl streaks into Kingston Classic at Ascot Racecourse

From her debut in May 2019, word was out on Inspirational Girl, who will start favored in Saturday’s Group 1 Kingston Town Classic at Ascot Racecourse in Perth, Australia.

Inspirational Girl was 3-5 when she won her debut, and has won 9 of 11 starts in her career. Ascot has been the site of her greatest success. On Nov. 21, Inspirational Girl won the Group 1 Railway Stakes at a mile, closing from 12th of 16 to prevail by about 1 3/4 lengths as the 5-2 favorite.

Saturday, Inspirational Girl is part of another big field in the Kingston Town Classic at 1 1/8 miles. Inspirational Girl will be racing at a new distance. Judging from her closing style, the new trip should be within range of the 5-year-old New Zealand-bred mare.

Trained by the husband-and-wife team of Grant and Alana Williams, Inspirational Girl’s losses were a second by a neck in a seven-furlong handicap at Ascot in January and a third by three-quarters of a length in a seven-furlong handicap at Belmont Park Racecourse in Perth in September.

Her current three-race winning streak began with a win in a seven-furlong handicap on Oct. 10 at Ascot and continued with her group stakes debut in the Group 3 Asian Beau Stakes at seven furlongs on Oct. 31. The Railway Stakes was Inspirational Girl’s most recent start.

The $739,000 Kingston Town Classic consists primarily of horses from stables based in Western Australia. Nine of the runners Inspirational Girl beat in the Railway Stakes are entered in the Kingston Town Classic.

Too Close the Sun was second to Inspirational Girl in the Asian Beau and Railway Stakes, and won the Ascot Gold Cup at 1 1/8 miles between those starts Nov. 14.

The Kingston Town Classic will have a safety limit of 16 starters. Aside from Too Close the Sun, two of Inspirational Girl’s leading rivals are the 4-year-old filly Kay Cee and 3-year-old filly Watch Me Dance.

Kay Cee won the Group 2 Lee Steele Stakes at seven furlongs on Nov. 7, but was 11th in the Railway Stakes.

Watch Me Dance won the Group 2 Western Australia Guineas at a mile on Nov. 21 for her second consecutive stakes win. This will be her first start at 1 1/8 miles.

The Ascot program begins at 11:19 p.m. Eastern, or 8:19 p.m. Pacific, on Friday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.