Gloucester Park preview

Talented gelding Swingband has regained his composure and is poised to make amends for his last-start misdemeanour by winning the $50,000 APG Gold Bullion final for three-year-old colts and geldings at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

That’s the learned opinion of trainer Ryan Bell, whose optimism has been boosted by two exemplary performances at trials last weekend.

Swingband stunned his admirers in a heat of this group 2 feature event on Tuesday of last week when he was a hot favourite at $1.12 and broke into a fierce gallop soon after the start and was retired. Rock On Top began speedily from barrier seven and impressed with his way all-the-way victory over Arma Xfactor.

“I was extremely happy with him leading into that race, but when he galloped, I was back to the drawing board,” said Bell.

“So, I took him to trials at Northam last Saturday, and he didn’t put a foot wrong. He ran good time and wasn’t extended in winning the trial after he settled well before taking off to set the pace. We went to Byford the following day when he felt even better. He had a satisfactory jump-out.

“What he did at his latest start is something that he’s done before. He galloped in an early educational trial and also galloped (from the No. 1 barrier) and trailed the field in the Golden Slipper last July.

“These are the three times he has galloped, and each time he has been a bit of a rogue. He’s a big, head-strong horse.”

Swingband, to be driven by Michael Grantham, is awkwardly drawn at barrier five on Friday night when the Alta Christiano gelding will be set alight at the start.

“It’s only over a mile (1730m), so we will have to come out all guns blazing, particularly as Rock On Top (barrier seven) is pretty slick out of the machine.” said Bell. “I’m pretty confident that if he’s on his best behaviour he can hold Rock On Top, who is a fast horse.

“If Rock On Top happens to cross Swingband, then we will have to try to be tactical, and probably make it a staying test.”

Before his last-start failure Swingband impressed at his two previous outings, winning the group 2 Sales Classic and the group 3 Caduceus Club Classic. He has won at six of his 12 starts and his main rivals loom large as Rock On Top and Arma Xfactor.

Rock On Top, to be driven by Gary Hall jnr for trainer Aiden de Campo, has won at five of his 17 starts. Arma Xfactor, trained and driven by Colin Brown, should be prominent from barrier two. He showed excellent fighting qualities in last week’s heat when he raced in the breeze and fought on gamely to finish second to Rock On Top. He also raced without cover when he won by two lengths from Sunpatra and Stereophonic at Pinjarra at his previous start.

Brown also has two other runners in Friday night’s event — Mister Piccolo (Maddison Brown) and Loucid Dreams (Dylan Egerton-Green). Mister Piccolo, who has won once from 20 starts, will begin from the No. 3 barrier, while Loucid Dreams (barrier No. 6) shows considerable promise and his five starts have produced two wins and two placings.

Big test for Valedictorian

The stage is set for another exciting duel between star two-year-old geldings Valedictorian and Rocket City when they clash in the $50,000 APG Gold Bullion final for colts and geldings at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

They have met twice, with honours even. Valedictorian won from Rocket City in the group 1 Sales Classic on February 25 before Rocket City gained his revenge with a brilliant victory over Valedictorian in a heat of the APG Classic on Tuesday of last week.

The Justin Prentice-trained Valedictorian will start from barrier five, with Rocket City, trained and driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, at barrier No. 6 in the field of six runners.

In the heat, Rocket City was a heavily-supported $1.60 favourite from barrier two, with Valedictorian an easing $3.70 chance from barrier five. Rocket City began speedily and led for the first 350m before Chris Lewis sent the speedy Major Overs to the front, leaving Valedictorian in the breeze.

Valedictorian took a narrow lead 400m from home but had no answer to the finishing sprint of Rocket City, who went three wide on the home turn and burst to the front 50m from the post. The final 800m was covered in 56.9sec. Major Overs wilted to finish fifth.

Champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr is under no false illusion that Valedictorian faces an easy assignment this week, declaring: “It’s a tricky race. I expect Major Overs will lead and then Valedictorian will most likely be in the breeze.

“I will have to stay in front of Rocket City. It promises to be a hard race for me because I’ve got to do enough to get over Major Overs and then be able to hold off Rocket City, who is a future star. I think Valedictorian will improve on his latest run. We will go forward and hope to turn the tables on Rocket City.”

There were excuses for the fading last-start run of Major Overs, who was having his third start in the space of 19 days. His previous form was hard to fault — all-the-way wins at Pinjarra and Northam followed by Gloucester Park seconds to Lord Titanium and Lethal Edition.

Miller aims to improve

Reinsman Mitch Miller is enjoying a break-out season in the sulky and currently sits in fifth position in the WA drivers’ premiership table with 37 winners in the first 16 weeks of the year.

But he is not getting carried away and is a harsh self-critic.

The 27-year-old Miller is looking forward to the most unusual situation of driving a red-hot favourite in Flametree in the $50,000 APG Gold Bullion final for two-year-old fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night in which there are only two runners.

Flametree, prepared by Busselton trainer Barry Howlett, will start from the No. 2 barrier, with the filly’s sole rival Dream Control at No. 1. Flametree has won at three of her six starts, while Dream Control has managed one placing from four starts — her close second to Flametree in a two-horse heat of the APG Classic on Tuesday of last week.

In last week’s 1730m heat Flametree set an extremely slow pace. After a slow lead time of 8.8sec. Flametree crawled over the first three quarters of the final mile in 33.8sec., 33.2sec. and 31.6sec. before lifting the tempo with a final 400m in 28.8sec. She won by a metre from Dream Control, who finished with a strong burst. The winner’s rate was a very slow 2.6.7.

Asked how he was approaching the task of driving Flametree in another two-horse event, Miller said: “Hopefully, better than I approached the heat last week when I made Flametree look real average, going so slowly.

“I didn’t pull the plugs or use the whip and she won well within herself. But I made her look very average. I think she has the gate speed to get past Dream Control at the start on Friday night. Then I’ll definitely roll along a bit more than last week to try to take the sting out of Dream Control’s legs.

“Dream Control went very well last week, so I’ve got to show a bit more respect this week.”

The $50,000 APG Gold Bullion final for three-year-old fillies looks set to be a cakewalk for the brilliant Wonderful To Fly, who should dash to an early lead from barrier two and go on and win from Sovrana, Ima Socialite and Precocious Lady.

Wonderful To Fly, a winner at 14 of her 24 starts, is in dazzling form for part-owner and trainer-reinsman Shane Young, who was delighted with the filly’s effortless victory over smart colts Hoppys Way and Linebacker at a 1.57.6 rate in a 2130m event last Friday night.

Emily’s Distinguished Taste

Outstanding young driver Emily Suvaljko was impressed with Distinguished Taste’s easy all-the-way win over 2130m on Tuesday of last week, and she is bullish about the New Zealand-bred five-year-old’s prospects of repeating the dose when he contests the Hoist Torque Australia Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Distinguished Taste, prepared by Bunbury trainer John Graham, led from the No. 5 barrier last week, and he will start from the No. 6 barrier on Friday night when Suvaljko will be aiming to set him alight early in a bid for the lead.

“He is going really well, and we will be trying to find the front,” said Suvaljko. “That’s where he races best. He’s got quirks but is a very nice horse and is improving with racing.”

Ima Rockabilly Rebel, to be driven by Ryan Warwick for leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, looms large as the horse for Distinguished Taste to beat. He will start from the No. 4 barrier and Warwick will be anxious to settle the New Zealand-bred four-year-old in front of Distinguished Taste.

In a 2536m event last Friday night Ima Rockabilly Rebel was restrained at the start from the No. 5 barrier and settled down in ninth position before Deni Roberts gained the favourable one-out, two-back position in sixth place before sending him forward, three wide, at the 700m. He sprinted strongly to win by a head from the pacemaker The Code Breaker. He ran the final 400m sections in 27.5sec. and 28.2sec.

The Bonds and Warwick also have bright prospects of winning with Unconditional and Dont Bother Me None in races six and seven, respectively.

Unconditional gave a splendid frontrunning performance when second to stablemate Boora, who rated a smart 1.54.6 over 2130m last Friday night. She will start from barrier four over 2130m this week and will be favoured to beat the improving The Tiger Army.

Emily Suvaljko, who will handle The Tiger Army, is looking forward for a strong showing from the Michael Young-trained Vespa in the 2130m Rent A Gen Pace. “He is well drawn at barrier two and we will be having a crack for the front,” said Suvaljko.

Hall sticks with Alta Cinderella

Star reinsman Gary Hall jnr has decided to drive Alta Cinderella in preference to Bettor Get It On in the opening event, the 2130m Hoist Torque Australia Pace for mares at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

He drove the Justin Prentice-trained Bettor Get It On to an excellent all-the-way victory at a 1.57.6 rate in the 2536m group 2 Empress Stakes three weeks ago and last Friday night he was in the sulky when Alta Cinderella set the pace and scored an easy victory at a 1.57.4 rate over 2536m.

Alta Cinderella is trained by Gary Hall snr, and a major reason when Hall jrn decided to stick with her is because she is comparatively inexperienced and can prove a handful in her races.

Bettor Get It On will be driven by Maddison Brown on Friday night. She will start from barrier four, with Alta Cinderella drawn out wide at barrier eight.

“Alta Cinderella is going to be one of the best mares here, but she is a long way from being a perfect racehorse,” said Hall snr. “She was a nightmare in the preliminary before last Friday night’s race. But she settled down and went good in the race. She doesn’t like being restrained and she just likes to keep rolling. It’s going to be hard from the wide draw.”

Bettor Get It On and Alta Cinderella will clash with several smart mares, including Born To Boogie, Savvy Bromac and Blissfullabbey.

Savvy Bromac caught the eye last Friday night when she was tenth at the bell before charging home, out five wide, to finish a close fifth behind Double Up. “It was a good run, and she would’ve improved from that run,” said driver Emily Suvaljko. “She is a sit and kick horse, so we will be looking for a bit of early pressure in the race.”

Born To Boogie (Chris Lewis) is also sure to have derived considerable benefit from her very close first-up fourth behind Double Up after setting a brisk pace. She is favourably drawn at barrier three, but it is problematical whether she will be able to cross the polemarker Blissfullabbey in the early stages.

Vultan Tin excites Miller

Vultan Tin, the seemingly indefatigable and indestructible ten-year-old, had his driver Mitch Miller searching for superlatives to describe his marvellous performance in finishing a half-head second to Double Up in a 2130m Free-For-All last Friday night.

And now Miller is looking for another powerful display from the veteran WA-bred millionaire pacer in the $30,000 Hoist Torque Australia Pace over 2536m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Vultan Tin started from the outside barrier (No. 9) when he raced three wide early and then in the breeze outside the speedy pacemaker Born To Boogie before getting to a narrow lead in the late stages and being overhauled in the final stride by Double Up.

“He has obviously put in a performance like last week’s run a hundred times before, and I grew a whole new appreciation of him,” said Miller.

“I said to Daniel (trainer Dan Costello) that Vultan Tin felt like he was all out with a lap to go, but every time a horse came near him, he just found another gear. He blew me away … to only go down by a nostril to a horse who got a freakish sort of run. He was enormous.

“This week I’ll speak to Daniel regarding tactics. It might be a race in which we might drive him a bit quieter and see how he gets home.” Vultan Tin, who will again start from the No. 9 barrier, is in tremendous form, with his three starts before last Friday night’s second placing producing victories in the group 2 Governor’s Cup and the group 3 Narrogin Cup, and a close second to Mighty Ronaldo in the group 2 Bunbury Cup.

In what appears to be an open race, one of Vultan Tin’s rivals is nine-year-old Fanci A Dance, who will be driven by Chris Voak from the coveted No. 1 barrier. The Barry Howlett-trained Fanci A Dance is a smart frontrunner who could take plenty of catching at his third appearance after a spell. His fifth in the Bunbury Cup and fourth in the Narrogin Cup were sound efforts.

Texas Tiger, a lightly-raced five-year-old to be driven by Gary Hall jnr from barrier six, will be having his second start in his current campaign. He resumed after a five-and-a-half-month absence when he broke after the start, raced at the rear and finished last behind Vultan Tin in the Governor’s Cup five weeks ago.

“He has as much ability as any horse in the race, but he is his own worst enemy,” said trainer Gary Hall snr. “He pulls and knocks himself around. But I’m starting to get on top of him. I was hoping he would draw to lead because if he was able to lead, he would be hard to beat. From barrier six I’m not sure where he is going to end up.”

To view the fields for Gloucester Park on Friday night click here.

By Ken Casellas for Gloucester Park