Luana Miss shows sire’s explosive turn of foot

Luana Miss overcame a torrid run and recovered from clipping heels at the top of the home straight on Saturday, 15 November, to score an outstanding victory in the Listed Placid Arc Stakes.

Back in the field and in trouble with 400m to gallop, jockey Shaun O’Donnell somehow kept the filly on her feet and was able to balance her for a final surge at the leaders.

The daughter of Godolphin’s triple Group 1 winner and champion Australian sprinter Bivouac flew when clear to win by just over three-quarters of a length from the fast-finishing Blue Point filly Sherpa Express.

Country God held on for third, a long neck away, as Luana Miss clocked 1 minute 10.79 seconds for 1,200m.

Winner of the Listed Supremacy Stakes 1,000m at Ascot as a two-year-old, Luana Miss has now won four races and been placed once from just six starts.

Bred by Clive Atwell out of the Australian mare Little Bit Ditsy, Luana Miss was offered by Western Breeders Alliance at the 2024 Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale.

The filly was purchased by Ascot trainer Trevor Andrews for $110,000 and has now returned prize-money and bonuses of $529,040.

Andrews hinted Luana Miss may now take on G1 company in the weight-for-age Winterbottom Stakes over 1,200 metres at Ascot on 29 November.

Bivouac’s oldest progeny are three-year-olds, and he is the sire of G1 Golden Rose 1,400m winner Beiwacht.

The stallion, who stands at Darley’s Kelvinside property in the NSW Hunter Valley, now has 13 winners of 19 races, including three individual Stakes winners.