Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have a history of success with fillies at Canterbury’s mid-June race meetings, and on Wednesday, they introduced another promising youngster who appears destined for greater achievements.
Demerzel secured her maiden victory at her second career start in the $60,000 event contested over 1250 metres. This marked the first of three wins for the day for the Waterhouse and Bott stable.
The Tulloch Lodge trainers achieved a similar win three years prior with Tropical Squall, who subsequently triumphed in the Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) and Surround Stakes (1400m) as a three-year-old.
While Bott refrained from directly comparing Demerzel to Tropical Squall, he expressed confidence that the daughter of Ole Kirk is also on track for more significant races over longer distances than her Wednesday assignment.
A classy win to Demerzel at Canterbury! ⭐️@clarkyhk @GaiWaterhouse1 @aus_turf_club pic.twitter.com/IIXRQCbatq
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 17, 2026
“She’s very professional and put them away nicely,” Bott said.
“I think the improvement’s really going to come when we can see her get over a bit further.
“I think over 1400 (or) 1600 metres as a three-year-old, we’re really going to see her be very effective.”
Demerzel, a $550,000 Inglis Easter yearling purchase and the comfortable $3.40 favourite, led from start to finish, winning by 1-3/4 lengths. Consulate ($3.90) secured second place, finishing a nose ahead of Woodenbridge ($3.90).
Tim Clark was the jockey for Wednesday’s victory, which followed a fourth-place debut over 1100m under Rachel King. Clark shares Bott’s assessment of the filly’s potential.
“For her to do what she did at 1100 the other day, it was a really good run, and then she obviously improved once she got out in trip a little bit,” Clark said.
“But I think her future lies when she gets out over a little bit further, she’s going to be a really nice filly.”
Demerzel was not the sole winner for Clark riding for Waterhouse and Bott; the imported galloper Mo Chroi also made a successful Australian debut, showing potential to progress through the grades.
The four-year-old son of Galiway, who arrived in Australia after two starts in Ireland yielding a win and a third, settled just off the pace but finished strongly along the inside rail in the home straight to win by 1-1/4 lengths in the 1550m BM72 event.
Waterhouse and Bott’s third winner was Think I Will, who triumphed in the 1900m BM72 race with Siena Grima in the saddle.
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