Peters in a royal Mile bid

Perth trainer pins All- Star hopes on Arcadia Queen

Powerful Perth owner Bob Peters will chase a second straight All- Star Mile win after entering brilliant mare Arcadia Queen for the March 13 event.

Peters teamed up with trainers Grant and Alana Williams and jockey William Pike to win last year’s edition of the $ 5m race at Caulfield with Regal Power.

Peters quinellaed the 2020 All- Star Mile with runner- up Superstorm. But Arcadia Queen will be his sole entry in this year’s All- Star Mile, to be held at The Valley.

Peters said Arcadia Queen was his only entry in a bid to garner the exclusive support of WA racing fans in All- Star Mile voting.

“Of course you never know how the voting will go, but we believe Arcadia Queen is one of the best mares in the country so we’re hopeful that she will get a run in the AllStar Mile,” Peters said.

However, Arcadia Queen would be a prime candidate for one of the Racing Victoria wildcards into the race should she not be among the top 10 vote- getters.

Peters said he hoped Arcadia Queen would secure enough votes to get a start in the All- Star Mile, which would leave a wildcard available for Regal Power.

“The plan is to bring Regal Power over to Melbourne at some point, too,” Peters said.

“I didn’t want to split the vote but we’d obviously love to see him defend The AllStar Mile so we’ll be relying on a wildcard to get him into the race.”

Wildcards are available to all qualified horses, irrespective of whether they are among the All- Star Mile entries.

Arcadia Queen has won three Group 1 races, including the Caulfield Stakes and Mackinnon Stakes during the recent Melbourne Spring Carnival.

Peters said he was unsure where Arcadia Queen would start her build- up towards the All- Star Mile.

“But she’s back in work and we’ll look to trial her at home over the next few weeks, then come up with a plan to bring her over to Melbourne and build a campaign towards the All- Star Mile,” Peters said.

“She showed what she’s capable of during the spring carnival, and if she comes back in that sort of form then she’ll be very competitive in any race she lines up in.”

All- Star Mile entries close at noon on January 11 before public voting opens on January 22. Racing Victoria will again donate the $ 500 entry fee for each horse to the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.