Quality four year old Headwater mare London's Image collected her third stakes victory when she unleashed a big finish to claim a determined last stride win over race favourite Talkanco in the Listed Pinjarra Classic 1300m on Sunday.
The high quality four year old, who races for Ultra Horse syndicate, was purchased for $360,000 by Cameron Cooke Bloodstock when she went through the Inglis Chairman's Sale in 2025 offered by Vinery Stud as agent.
Now trained by Grant and Alana Williams, London's Image was originally in the care of Ryan Hill who paid Holbrook Thoroughbreds $20,000 for her at the 2023 Adelaide Magic Millions Sale.
For Hill, the filly won the Listed Burgess Queen Stakes and WA Breeders Classic and notched up placings in the Placid Ark, Sir Ernest Lee-Steere Classic and MM Trophy before a venture to Melbourne in autumn last year was rewarded with a Listed placing at Moonee Valley.
London’s Image returned for her new stable with a close second to Rope Them In in the RS Crawford Stakes but went for a break after finishing unplaced at her next run. Third in the Cyril Flower Stakes when back at the track earlier this month, the daughter of Headwater finally broke through for another well deserved black type win yesterday.
Her Pinjarra Classic victory advances the record of London's Image to 21 starts for 6 wins, 5 seconds and 3 thirds for career earnings of $581,620.
The mare looked a picture in the yard and was backed late for the Pinjarra Classic with the classy and consistent Talkanco (I'm All The Talk) holding favoritism in the twelve horse field.
Talkanco and London's Image were both well back in the pack as the race unfolded with the speedy Ice Pick Nick (Frosted) and 80/1 bolter Fast Flicker (A Lot) leading the way. Talkanco was set alight by Chris Parnham as they approached the 300m and began to close quickly.
But things weren’t going to script because six year old mare Fast Flicker was running the race of her life!
She shot to the lead and got away by a length before Elite Missile (Smart Missile) wove through from last along the rail to challenge and Talkanco drew level on her outside.
Fast Flicker fought like a demon as Talkanco tried to get past her - meanwhile Lucy Fiore and London’s Image had sprouted wings and were steaming down the centre of the track. In the shadows of the post Fast Flicker was still there with her head in front! And it looked like two major boilovers in one weekend for WA racing - but London's Image was too strong.
She got up in the last stride to win by a neck from Talkanco, who finally got the better of Fast Flicker on the line. The A Lot mare held third from Elite Missile with less than a length covering the first four home in a thrilling finish.
London’s Image hails from one of WA’s best families carefully nurtured by Bob and Sandra Peters to great success This is a very active family with some exciting youngsters in the pipeline!
The dam of London’s Image, New Image by the great More Than Ready won the Listed Belmont Oaks / Matchmaker Classic for Peters Investments. She retired from breeding in 2022.
New Image was dam of five named foals, all fillies,
London's Image is her only stakes winner, but her winning daughter New Age ( Street Sense) is retained by Peters Investments and has produced fillies to Mendelssohn, Churchill and Admire Mars.
True Image (Teofilo) is owned by Ramsey Pastoral and was a winner - as is her only foal to race. She has fillies by Supido and Tiger Of Malay on the ground and is in foal to Home Affairs.
Treasured Queen (Vancouver) has won five races to date, while the last foal from New Image is New Discovery (Shooting To Win) who is yet to race.
New Image was one of four stakeswinners produced by Peters Investment's Blue Hen Reflected Image ( Bluebird), three of them full sisters - New Image, the G1 Kingston Town ( Northerly Stakes) WFA winner Perfect Reflection and the G3 La Trice Classic heroine Ideal Image.
For the sake of brevity all of the sisters’ collective stakes wins are not enumerated here, but each of them was a multiple stakes winner and rarely out of the placings throughout their careers.
The superstar of the three, Perfect Reflection sadly left only two foals and both were colts, the last by Maurice born not long before her passing in 2024.
Ideal Image is now owned by Barree Stud in Victoria and foaled a colt by Shamus Award for them in 2024. In the west,she left three fillies by Vancouver.
Serene Image was unraced and is owned by Grant and Alana Williams for whom she has produced two Blue Point fillies and a Shamus Award colt.
Secret Attire was a six time winner and was served by Wa's champion sire Playing God for her first foal.
Ideally has won twice in 11 starts to date.
In 2022 Ideal Image foaled a filly to American Pharoah - named American Image she is yet to race.
Reflected Image was a prolific producer of fourteen named foals and apart from her four stakes winners a further seven won races.
Her winning daughter Western Sunset produced the flying filly Western Fever (Flying Pegasus) who won the RL Magic Millions WA Classic and placed in the Listed Gimcrack Stakes at two.
Third dam of London’s Image is the US bred Superb Prospect (Superbity) a stakes winner in her homeland and dam of 10 to race for 8 winners - Reflected Image the jewel in her crown but also two more stakes placed. She is the grand dam of G1 Oakleigh Plate runner up Facile Tigre.
This incredible family traces back one mare and three daughters.
The taproot mare was The Apple (family 9f) , and her daughters were the three quarter sisters Thankful Blossom and Cider, and their half sister One I Love.
London’s Image and her family are descendants of Cider .
Thankful Blossom founded the branch from which came the breedshaping American sire Bull Lea and his older half brother Espino, carried by Seattle Slew, as well as the famed Nellie Flag family - Forego, Bold Forbes, Saratoga Six, Dewan, Admire Vega etc. Nellie Flag's grand dam was by the 1887 AJC Derby winner Abercorn!
From One I Love descend the vast families of Blue Hens Bayou, Delta and Levee and important sire Sword Dancer ( Damascus).
Cider did not have as great an impact at stud as her sisters but clearly the family excellence lives on in her line! .She is the ancestress of the 2019 Kentucky Derby winner Country House.
The G2 Silver Slipper winner Headwater stands at Vinery and the son of Exceed And Excel has sired 8 stakes winners, all but two of them fillies - not surprising as his dam is the G1 Oakleigh Plate heroine River Dove by the great broodmare sire Hurricane Sky from the great speed family of the Bletchingly daughter Kilmarie.
London's Image is bred
Northern Dancer 5m,5m x 5f,5m sex balanced.
Bletchingly 5m,5f x sex balanced
Mr Prospector x 5m,5f sex balanced
Her dam is strongly linebred to the La Troienne family which is picked up by both Hurricane Sky with his Best In Show damline, and Exceed And Excel's damsire Patrona, by Seattle Slew's half brother Lomond ( from the family of Mr Prospector)
She is also linebred to Sir Ivor and his tail male ancestor Turn-To, to the full brothers ,Graustark / His Majesty and most importantly, to Bull Lea - also to Blue Hen Almahmoud via three quarter sisters Natalma and Cosmah.
There are a couple of chances coming up for yearling buyers to get into this fantastic family.
Ultra Thoroughbreds will offer a close relation to London’s Image, a colt by the Cox Plate hero and six time G1 sire Shamus Award from G3 winner Ideal Image.
Gold Coast March Yearling Lot 365
From the draft of Clear Mountain Fairview, a colt by Supido, the sire of MM Classic winner Unit Five, he is the first foal from the winning Americain mare Reflecting Image, a half sister to Perfect Reflection, Ideal Image etc.
Colt is bred 3m x 3m to the mighty Roberto - a prominent presence in top two year old pedigrees.
