Gloucester Park preview

Harness racing preview of Gloucester Park on Friday night (Jul. 29) from Ken Casellas.

Cortopassi seeks elusive win

The John Higgins Memorial final has been an elusive feature harness racing event for star reinsman Aldo Cortopassi, who is hoping that it will be a case of 10th time lucky when he drives Lucky Galleon (American Ideal) in the $30,000 Group 3 race over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Lucky Galleon, a lightly-raced New Zealand-bred four-year-old, has the ability to beat his more experienced rivals — at only his second appearance at Gloucester Park and at his 14th start in a race.

He will begin from the coveted No. 1 barrier for veteran trainer Ray Williams, who prepared Pacific Warrior for his thrilling victory in the Higgins Memorial in 2013 when the five-year-old, driven by Nathan Turvey, started from the inside of the back line and stormed home to beat the odds-on favourite Condrieu by a short half-head.

Williams and Cortopassi teamed up in the 2020 Higgins Memorial with To Fast To Serious, who started from the outside of the front line, was restrained to the rear and was still last with 950m to travel before he sustained a powerful three-wide burst to take a narrow lead in the closing stages, only to be relegated to second behind the strong-finishing One For Dave Andme.

This was Cortopassi’s first placing in a Higgins Memorial — after driving unplaced outsiders Country Mint (1999), Justa Preacher Man (2002), Young Parson (2007), Blissful Snag (2009), Wotavugot (2014), Johnny Disco (2017) and the Williams-trained Major Pocket (2018). Cortopassi also trained 66/1 chance Brisbane Bronco when he was driven by Ryan Warwick and finished in eleventh place in the 2000 Higgins Memorial.

Lucky Galleon, a winner at one of his three New Zealand starts as a three-year-old last year, made an inglorious West Australian debut when he was the $1.24 favourite in a 2130m event at Gloucester Park last November. He galloped badly from barrier seven, dropped back to last and then dashed forward to the breeze after a lap before he broke again 230m from home and finished ninth behind Under the Alta.

His next nine starts have all been on country tracks — for three wins at Pinjarra, a win at Northam and three seconds and two thirds.

Lucky Galleon warmed up for this week’s race in fine style when second to Socrates in a Higgins heat at Northam last Saturday night. He started from the inside of the back line and raced in sixth position in the one-wide line. He was seventh with 250m to travel before being switched four wide on the home turn and then finishing powerfully.

At Northam a week earlier, Lucky Galleon raced without cover when a fighting second to Goodfellaz, and at his previous appearance he ran home strongly to win narrowly from Ohoka Titan at Pinjarra.

“Lucky Galleon will be right in it, in this week’s race,” said Cortopassi. “He has good gate speed, and we will be making every effort to hold up. He is a progressive horse, and what he does in this campaign he will improve on and be a lot better in his next campaign.

“It was a track record when he raced in the breeze and finished second to Goodfellaz at Northam. And then he went super when second to Socrates last Saturday.”

Socrates notched his eighth win from 19 starts when he set the pace and was successful at Northam last Saturday. He will be driven by Ryan Warwick for leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond and is favourably drawn at the No. 2 barrier on the back line.

Socrates is one of four Bond-trained runners in Friday night’s race, the others being Give Us A Wave (Deni Roberts), Vulcan Star (Colin Brown) and Markham Eyre (Mitch Miller).

The Bond stable has a splendid record in the Higgins Memorial, having been successful with Money Magnet (2004), Richard Henry (2005), Delightful Offer (2015), Rock Diamonds (2017) and See Ya Write (2021).

The Bonds created history in 2015 when they landed the trifecta in the Higgins Memorial, with Delightful Offer beating Condrieu and Phoenix Warrior. The stable has also had second placegetters with Condrieu (2013), Char Do Neigh (2016) and Courage Tells (2019).

Capel trainer-reinsman Aiden de Campo is confident his Mach Three gelding The Good Life will figure in the finish. The four-year-old, a winner at nine of his 30 starts, will begin from barrier No. 4.

“He is racing really well and I’m happy with the way he has come back after a long break,” he said. “He has got an awkward draw, but I think he is up to them and will run a good race. His work this morning (Tuesday) was good, and I was happy with his latest run (when fourth behind Mr Fantastic at Bunbury).

“We went back after starting from the back line and they ran home in 26.9sec. when he was out four deep.”

Gary Hall jnr will be seeking his fourth winner in the Higgins Memorial when he drives the Justin Prentice-trained Mr Fantastic, who will start from the outside of the back line. Mr Fantastic maintained his excellent form when he raced in the breeze before getting up to win from the pacemaker Give Us A Wave in a Higgins qualifying heat at Bunbury last Friday week.

“Mr Fantastic seems to have come through that run really good,” said Prentice. “This is a good field, and it will be a good test for him. He had a fair bit of time off and it took him a few runs to get back to somewhere near his best.”

Emily Suvaljko is looking forward to having a favourable run with the Michael Young-trained Moonlite Drive, who will start from the inside of the back line.

“This is a good barrier for Moonlite Drive,” said Suvaljko. “He is racing really well, and he will run a good race. I drove him when he dead-heated for first with Vulcan Star in a qualifying heat at Narrogin when the trainer didn’t expect him to get that close to Vulcan Star.”

Never Ending looks the goods

A dazzling first-to-last victory on debut at Pinjarra three Mondays ago stamped Never Ending as one of the State’s best two-year-olds, and the brilliant son of Sweet Lou should end Hall Of Fame reinsman Gary Hall junior’s 40TH birthday week on a high note by winning the final event at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Never Ending, prepared at Boyanup by Justin Prentice, will start from the No. 1 barrier and he should lead his three rivals on a merry dance.

Hall, who celebrated his milestone birthday on Tuesday, will be anxious to score an all-the-way victory.

“I was rapt with the way he went on debut, winning at Pinjarra,” said Prentice. “I’ve always liked him. I wanted to see him hit the line strongly, and he did. The win was a bonus. He has good gate speed and I’d say he’s a good chance of leading on Friday night. He has come out good in his trials.”

Never Ending began from the outside barrier (No. 7) in his debut race when he raced four wide early before Hall restrained him back to last in the field of eleven. Never Ending began a three-wide move from last 600m from home when he sprinted brilliantly to move quickly to the outside of the pacemaker Rockokoko before getting to the front in the final 25 metres.

Never Ending’s times for the final 800m (54.59sec.) and the last 400m (27.61sec.) were remarkable for a two-year-old over 2185m.

His most serious rival is sure to be the Glenn Elliott-trained Soho Confidential, who will start from the No. 2 barrier, with Shannon Suvaljko in the sulky.

Soho Confidential trailed the pacemaker Star Lavra for the first 800m before moving to the breeze 1250m from home when an excellent first-up second to Crowd Control over 2130m at Gloucester Park last Friday week. That was his first run since he led and won on debut over 1684m at Pinjarra on February 14.

Never Ending is one of several excellent drives for Hall on Friday night when he would dearly love to drive nine-year-old champion Chicago Bull to victory in the City Discount Tyres Free-For-All.

Chicago Bull, a winner of 62 races, has a losing sequence of nine. He will start from the No. 2 barrier and Hall will be looking to take advantage of his good gate speed in the field of six.

Chicago Bull, who holds the track record for 1730m with a rate of 1.51.6, set the pace last Friday week when he was overhauled in the final couple of strides and finished a head second to Magnificent Storm over 2536m.

This week he should carry too many guns for his stablemates Diego (Maddison Brown) and Jumpingjackmac (Stuart McDonald) as well as Papinik (Chris Voak), Handsandwheels (Aiden de Campo) and Bletchley Park (Lindsay Harper).

The Ross OIivieri-trained Papinik will be making his first appearance since he set the pace and finished a short half-head second to Vultan Tin over 2130m on March 18. He warmed up for his first-up run with an effortless win in a four-horse 2185m trial at Pinjarra three Wednesdays ago.

Papinik raced in last place before finishing strongly to win by five lengths from Cheer the Major, rating 1.57.6, with final quarters of 28.5sec. and 27.7sec.

“I was very happy with the trial,” said Olivieri. “Realistically, his rivals on Friday night have got race fitness over Papinik.  But he is a horse who comes to hand very quickly, and he will run a forward race. He’s not impossible.”

Trainer-reinsman Aiden de Campo said he was pleased with the run of Handsandwheels in the 2190m York Cup at Northam last Saturday night when the eight-year-old, at his second run after a 23-month absence, set the pace and finished a close third behind Magnificent Storm and Patronus Star.

“I’m not expecting too much from him just yet,” he said. “I’m letting him work back into form.”

Taking the Miki resumes

Talented filly Taking The Miki (Always B Miki) will resume racing after a 22-week absence when she starts from barrier six in the $20,250 Noah George Fundraiser Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night — and trainer Ross Olivieri is quietly confident she will prove hard to beat.

“In a perfect world she would have another trial, but with no race for three-year-old fillies next week, I decided to start her this week,” Olivieri said.

“She has been pleasing us and she is a very athletic filly who can get under your guard a little bit. I expect her to run a very competitive race.”

Chris Voak drove Taking The Miki in a five-horse 2185m trial at Pinjarra on Wednesday of last week when the filly set the pace and won from Bonsco Circus, rating 1.59.8, with two 28.7sec. final quarters.

Taking The Miki last appeared when she led early and then trailed the pacemaker Wonderful To Fly before finishing a well-beaten second to that star pacer in the group 2 Sales Classic in February. She also finished second to Wonderful To Fly in the Group 1 Westbred Classic for two-year-olds in June last year, a month after her second to In The Spotlight in the group 1 Diamond Classic.

Gary Hall jnr will drive Bonstar for owner-trainer Peter Marsh, and the filly at her first outing since last November has sufficient gate speed to set the pace. But Taking The Miki is likely to receive the stiffest opposition from Elsamay, Wall Street Girl, Five Bangles and Dontbesillychilli.

Elsamay, trained by John Graham, will be driven by Emily Suvaljko, who gives the filly a good each-way chance from barrier three.

“Elsamay looks to be my best drive on the night,” said Suvaljko. “She will need luck but is racing very well. It’s a trick race and I’m thinking I’d like to stay in the moving line. I want to be close (to the leaders) to give her a good chance.”

Taking The Miki is one of Olivieri’s eight runners on the ten-event program, and he gives them all a sound each-way hope, with Rupert Of Lincoln (race three), Papinik (race six) and Steam Punk (race seven) all capable of winning.

He is particularly bullish about the prospects of Steam Punk, who will start from the No. 1 barrier and will be driven by Chris Lewis in the 2130m City Discount Tyres SA Pace.

“Steam Punk will take a hell of a lot of running down if he leads,” he said. Steam Punk caught the eye two starts ago when he finished strongly along the inside to be second to the pacemaker Bracken Sky. His most serious rival appears to be Euphoria, who is favourably drawn at barrier two and has a reasonable hope of ending a losing sequence of 16.

Rock Me Over is an iron horse

Evergreen seven-year-old Rock Me Over (Rock N Roll Heaven) continues to enjoy a steady menu of racing, and he lines up for his 175th start when he begins from the No. 1 barrier in the $18,500 City Discount Tyres Suspension And Brake Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he has excellent prospects of breaking a losing sequence of 16.

The Matt Scott-trained gelding has won only once from his past 44 starts, but he is a noted frontrunner who gets an ideal opportunity to notch his 24th win and add to his significant earnings of $355,028. He will be handled by Shannon Suvaljko, who was in the sulky for his most recent victory — when he started from the No. 1 barrier, set the pace and won from Illawong Mustang and Pocket The Cash on March 4 this year.

Rock Me Over is the most prolific winner in Friday night’s event in which the 12 runners have had a combined total of exactly 1400 starts for exactly 140 wins. Scott will also be represented by Euston Flyer, Trittritbangbang and Billy Mack.

Punters would be well advised to consider the least experienced runner in the race, five-year-old Texas Tara, who has raced a mere 43 times for nine wins and nine placings. He is trained by part-owner Luke Edwards and will be driven by Gary Hall jnr from barrier two on the back line. He has been unplaced at his past five starts since winning from The Verandah and Glenledi Chief six weeks ago.

Two inexperienced and extremely smart New Zealand-bred four-year-olds in Cooper and Himself will clash in the City Discount Tyres Performance Tyre Handicap, a stand over 2503m, and they are sure to dominate betting on the event.

They will start from the front line, and each boasts an outstanding record in standing-start events. Himself, trained by Greg and Skye Bond and to be driven by Ryan Warwick, contested three stands in New Zealand for two wins and a second placing, and he has won easily at his first two Australian starts, scoring in stands at Bunbury and Northam earlier this month.

He started off the 40m mark in a 2503m stand at Bunbury when he dashed to the front after 550m and set a solid pace before sprinting over the final 400m in a dashing 27.2sec. and winning from Mega Mach. Eight nights after that he started from 20m in a 2150m event at Northam when he settled down in seventh position before charging to the lead after 600m and going on to win easily from Hesacharmer and Celebrity Chief.

Cooper, to be driven by Gary Hall jnr for trainer Michael Young, is unbeaten at his three appearances in stands — two at Bunbury and one at Narrogin. Joseph Suvaljko drove him when he began off 50m (virtually 40m, with the sole frontmarker starting off the 10m mark) in a 2636m event at Narrogin last Friday night when he settled down in fifth position before dashing forward to take up the running after about 500m. He went on to beat Mega Mach by a length.

For complete race fields, click here.

by Ken Casellas for Gloucester Park