Swan Hill thrill for Mountjoy’s owners

Stakes-bound juvenile Mountjoy was a fitting winner of the final contest of the Premier Race Series when the filly dashed away from her rivals in the VOBIS Gold Elvstroem Classic (1300m) on the opening day of last week’s Swan Hill Carnival. 

Trainer Henry Dwyer has circled the Listed David Peacock Oaklands Plate (1400m) at Morphettville on Saturday, 27 June as the swansong for Mountjoy’s first racing campaign, which has now yielded almost $100,000 in prizemoney and VOBIS bonuses from just two career starts.   

Speaking after in-form jockey Declan Bates had guided his young charge to a half-length win over Fontein Jewel, Dwyer commented that his fellow trainers would be “crazy not to target these rich VOBIS races” with their eligible horses. 

Those sentiments were echoed by Luke Simpson, who for more than a decade has served as Stud Manager at Glentree Thoroughbreds, the Victorian farm where Mountjoy took her first tentative steps shortly after her birth on October 3, 2023.

The daughter of Darley’s ultra-consistent sire Street Boss was subsequently acquired by Dwyer for $150,000 as a yearling at the Karaka sales in early 2025, and the team at Glentree – led by 80-year-old plumbing magnate Bruce Wilson – wisely opted to take a 25 per cent share in the filly. 

A Stakes placing during her juvenile campaign would further elevate Mountjoy’s profile and residual value, particularly as the Oaklands Plate has produced some notable winners in recent years with Femminile (2024) and Coco Sun (2023) – who have both since realised seven figure sums as broodmares – going on to achieve Group 1 glory. 

“I thought her win at Swan Hill was very impressive,” said Simpson.

“Some handy horses have won that race in the past [including subsequent Group 1 winners Elvstroem, his half-brother Haradasun and May’s Dream], so we were delighted to join them on the honour roll. It’s been a great stepping stone for some very good horses so hopefully she can follow along a similar path. 

“It was very pleasing to get her first win on the board so early in her career, and especially to do it in a rich VOBIS race. It was a big collect for the whole ownership group, and the VOBIS Platinum vouchers are an added bonus for our farm. We love sending our mares to Victorian stallions, so we really target these races to try to pick up some vouchers to use on a service fee. 

“Street Boss is a proven producer of two-year-olds, and we really liked this filly from the start. We decided to approach Henry after he’d bought her at Karaka, and he was happy for us to stay in her. It’s been a great decision so far, and if she can run well in the stakes race in Adelaide then it should really set her up well for her three-year-old season and beyond.” 

Exclusive to VOBIS Gold and VOBIS Platinum upgraded horses, the 2025-26 Premier Race Series offered more than $5.6 million in prizemoney, bonuses and vouchers across 17 contests. The series was again headlined by the $1 million VOBIS Platinum Showdown (1200m) for eligible juveniles and the VOBIS Platinum Guineas (1600m) for three-year-olds, won respectively by Big Wigs and Salty Pearl.