Jumpingjackmac out to lead again
Star reinsman Gary Hall jnr aims to set the pace with up-and-coming four-year-old Jumpingjackmac (Mach Three) in a bid to beat outstanding harness racing five-year-old Magnificent Storm in the 2130m Allwood Stud Supporting WA Breeding Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night (Jul. 8).
Hall admits that Jumpingjackmac faces an acid test against the all-conquering Magnificent Storm, who will start from the No. 5 barrier, with his rival ideally drawn at the prized No. 1 barrier.
Last Friday week Jumpingjackmac was the $1.50 favourite when he set the pace and overraced as well as being hampered by getting his tongue over the bit before fading to fifth behind Magnificent Storm, who raced in the breeze and beat Diego and Chicago Bull.
Jumpingjackmac was much more relaxed last Friday night when he set a slow early pace before dashing over the final 400m in 27sec. and winning by a length from the fast-finishing To Fast To Serious over 2536m.
āI give Jumpingjackmac a better chance this time against Magnificent Storm,ā said Hall. āIf Jumpingjackmac pulls this time like he did two starts ago Iāll probably let him run a bit more. I wonāt hold him; that didnāt work. Iāll let him slide, if necessary. He can run good times, and it is not impossible for him to beat Magnificent Storm. He certainly has a better chance than he had the first time he met him.ā
Brilliant pacer Wonderful To Fly looks set to extend her winning sequence to seven when she contests the $25,000 Westsired Pace for three-year-old fillies.
Part-owned, trained and driven by Shane Young, Wonderful To Fly will be making her first appearance for seven weeks, and it is extremely difficult to suggest that she will be extended, even from her somewhat awkward draw at barrier five in the 2130m event.
āShe had three weeks off in the paddock and has been in work for almost four weeks,ā said Young. āHer work has been good, and she has options. However, she should get to the front. We will work forward to assess the situation, while I expect they would hand up to me.ā
The Debra Lewis-trained Wall Street Girl impressed at her first appearance for a month when, driven aggressively by Chris Lewis, she gave a bold frontrunning display to score a runaway victory at a 1.58.3 rate over 2130m on Tuesday afternoon. She dashed over the final 400m sections in 28.8sec. and 28.6sec. and defeated promising gelding Speedwagon by four lengths.
However, Wall Street Girl prospects of extending Wonderful To Fly diminished when she drew out wide at barrier eight.
Orlando Blue is ready to go
Orlando Blue (Heston Blue Chip) has not raced for 14 weeks, but his trainer Michael Young is optimistic about the geldingās prospects in the $30,000 Kerry Clarke Westbred Classic for four and five-year-old pacers at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Orlando Blue, to be driven by Gary Hall jnr from barrier three in the Group 3 2130m event, has a losing sequence of ten, but Young is confident the four-year-old is ready to produce a strong first-upĀ performance.
āHe has had plenty of work and is ready to go,ā said Young. āOrlando Blue is definitely up to it, on class. I wouldnāt swap him for any of his rivals, though I would gladly swap barriers with The Good Life, who has drawn one and should prove hard to beat.ā
The Good Life, trained and driven by Aiden de Campo, warmed up for this weekās event in fine style when he began from the back line and surged home powerfully from seventh at the bell to win easily over 2130m last Friday night. He dashed over the final 800m in 55.58sec.
At his previous start The Good Life began from barrier four, set the pace and sprinted the final 800m in 55.2sec. to win by just under five lengths from Bettor Move Along over 2569m at Bunbury. De Campo will be keen to take full advantage of the No. 1 barrier on Friday night by setting the pace.
Sound Wave is racing in grand style for Baskerville trainer Ryan Bell, but his prospects diminished when he drew out wide at barrier No. 8.
Sound Wave, a winner at six of his past 18 starts, rated 1.57.9 when he won a 2150m trial at Byford on Sunday morning. He worked without cover for the first 400m and then raced three back on the pegs before being eased off the inside with 600m to travel on his way to taking the lead 150m from the post and winning by a length from the pacemaker Lady Zegna.
āThe trial was very good; it was a very solid hit-out without any head gear on,ā said Bell. āHe will run a good race but the draw hurts, big time. Al Guerrero and Medieval Man are jumping out of conditioned races, and The Good Life is a very nice horse. Sound Wave is not out of it, but itās going to be hard getting into it.ā
Five-year-old Al Guerrero is the class horse of the field with 15 wins and earnings of $164,547. He will be handled by his regular driver Kyle Harper for trainer Kyle Anderson and will start from the inside of the back line, immediately behind The Good Life.
Al Guerrero, who will be racing first-up after a 19-week absence, has impressed in two recent Pinjarra trials and he looks set to fight out the finish on Friday night. He set the pace and covered the final 400m sections in 27.6sec. and 29sec. when he won from Regal Aura on Thursday of last week.
Anderson will be looking for a far better effort from Al Guerrero than his eleventh placing in the Kerry Clarke Westbred Classic last year when he started from the outside (barrier nine) on the front line and raced at the rear throughout in the event won by the pacemaker Fifty Five Reborn.
Whos The Dad is Suvaljkoās best
Ace reinsman Shannon Suvaljko, fresh from landing a double on Tuesday evening, will be busy with nine drives at Gloucester Park on Friday night — and he predicts that his best winning prospect will be Whos The Dad (Betting Line), who will start from the No. 1 barrier in the $20,250 Allwood Stud For All Your Breeding Requirements Pace.
āHe won last Friday week, coming from behind, and this week Iāll be trying to lead all the way,ā he said. āHe has good gate speed and is going really well.ā
Three-year-old Whos The Dad, trained by Kevin Charles, notched his fifth win from 26 starts when he began from the inside of the back line and raced three back on the pegs in fifth position before finishing with a powerful burst to win by two lengths from the favourite and pacemaker Paul Edward last Friday week when he rated 1.57.6 over 2130m.
Suvaljko has given punters a valuable lead by opting to drive Whos The Dad in preference to the Mike Reed-trained pair of Dardy Boy and Hoppys Way, colts he had driven to easy victories at their most recent starts.
Dardy Boy will start from barrier five and will be handled by Ryan Warwick, while Gary Hall jnr will drive Hoppys Way from the outside barrier in the field of eight three-year-olds. Toughest for Whos The Dad to beat this week could be Goodfellaz, Been Scootin and Arma Xfactor.
Goodfellaz, trained by Debra Lewis and to be driven by her husband Chris, is awkwardly drawn at barrier seven. He raced without cover early and then in the one-out, one-back position before finishing third behind Whos The Dad at his latest appearance. That followed two Pinjarra wins and a Gloucester Park second to Jaxon Morgan at his first three starts.
Been Scootin, owned and trained by Ray Jones, will be driven by Kyle Harper and is favourably drawn at barrier two. He followed a good win at Bunbury with a third placing behind Rambo Rabbit on the same track when he worked hard in the breeze for much of the way.
Arma Xfactor, trained and driven by Colin Brown, has won at three of his ten starts, and is handily drawn at barrier three. He raced wide early and then in the breeze before wilting to Whos The Dad two Fridays ago.
Apart from Whos The Dad, Suvaljko has good claims with Ragazzo Mach (race three), Flying Rumour (race eight) and Cabsav (race 11).
Ragazzo Mach, trained by Mike Reed, has been placed at three of his four starts since resuming from a spell, and from barrier two in the 2130m The Trots WA Owners Appreciation Pace, Suvaljko is confident of success.
āRagazzo Mach is getting closer (to another win),ā said Suvaljko. āI donāt know whether Dominus Factum (barrier one) will hold up. Iāll drive Ragazzo Mach forward early. He could sit in the breeze and still be hard to beat. Last week, we sat up (and finished sixth behind Lavra Joe), but this week I will drive him more positively.ā
Flying Rumour and Cabsav are stablemates of Ragazzo Mach and are expected to be solidly supported.
Flying Rumour, who will start from the No. 4 barrier in the $25,000 Westsired Pace for three-year-old colts and geldings, was driven by Gary Hall jnr when he made a winning debut at Northam three months ago. He began from barrier five, set the pace and won by a neck at a 1.59.8 rate over 2190m. He has not raced since then.
āThis will be s rise in grade for Flying Rumour, and he might need a bit of luck,ā said Suvaljko. The race appears to be an extremely open affair, with Infinite Sign likely to be strongly supported, despite starting from the outside (barrier three) on the back line.
Infinite Sign, trained by Greg and Skye Bond and to be driven by Ryan Warwick, has won at four of his 12 starts, with his most recent success being three starts ago when he led from barrier six and easily beat Hoppys Way and Seven No Trumps.
Seven No Trumps will be driven by Hall for trainer Peter Tilbrook in Friday nightās race in which he will start from barrier two on the back line. He has won at five of his 32 starts, and his past couple of efforts have been encouraging.
Hillview Bondi will take catching
āI think he will give them something to catch,ā declared trainer Ryan Bell when assessing the prospects of Hillview Bondi (Somebeachsomewhere) in the opening event, the 1730m Allwood Stud Sires, Stallions Of Today And The Future Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Bellās confidence was boosted when the four-year-old Hillview Bondi drew the prized No. 1 barrier, and talented young reinsman Kyle Symington plans to take full advantage of the perfect draw by attempting an all-the-way win.
Hillview Bondi, a winner at eight of his 35 starts, has finished seventh from barrier seven at his past two starts in which he has been forced to cover extra ground.
āThose two sevenths havenāt been the worst runs,ā said Bell. āThere is a fair bit of speed around him, but he is as fast as anything else, and Iām sure he will acquit himself well over the mile.ā
In a most unusual occurrence, Symington will drive the polemarker in each of the first three events on the 11-event program. After driving Hillview Bondi in the opening event, Symington will drive Twoandahalf Tigers in race two and Dominus Factum in the following event.
The ten-year-old Twoandahalf Tigers faces a difficult assignment in the 2536m race in which he will clash with several younger and speedier rivals, including Alta Rhett, Pocket the Cash, Pradason, Euphoria and Rupert Of Lincoln, as well as nine-year-old Fanci A Dance, who is racing with plenty of enthusiasm.
The Ross Olivieri-trained Rupert Of Lincoln and the Barry Howlett-trained Fanci A Dance will start from the back line, but they are quite capable of fighting out the finish after they were placed behind the pacemaker Valbonne last Friday night.
Acid test for Patched
Pinjarra trainer David Young is enjoying a great run of success with promising five-year-old square gaiter Patched (Skyvalley), who faces a rise in class when he contests the 2130m Follow The Stars All Aged Sire Trot at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Young is up for the challenge, declaring: āPatched is a pretty decent trotter who should handle the rise in class. I think he has enough speed to hold up from barrier one, but if he doesnāt it should not be a great problem. He doesnāt have to lead to win; his greatest asset is his high speed.
āIt is a good, strong field. I canāt fault him, and his work this morning (Tuesday) was beautiful.ā
The Victorian-bred Patched entered Youngās stables about 12 weeks ago, and his six starts in Western Australia have produced five wins and a second placing. He is unbeaten at his four appearances at Gloucester Park.
At his most recent outing, at Gloucester Park on Tuesday of last week, Patched started from 50m (virtually 30m, with the frontmarker Kell Road Kid starting from the 20m mark). He strolled to the front after 500m and coasted to victory by three and a half lengths from Luvaflair.
Patched, to be handled by his regular reinsman Aiden de Campo, will need to trot soundly to defy the likely strong opposition from Beefour Bacardi, Son Of A Whiz and Majestic Dream.
Beefour Bacardi is in superb form for trainer Michael Young, with his 13 WA starts producing nine wins and two placings. Son Of A Whiz, trained by Barry Howlett, has raced 15 times in WA for four wins and six placings, and the Karen Bennett-trained Majestic Dream has won at eight of her 18 starts in WA.
Beefour Bacardi is aiming to stretch his winning sequence to four, and Young predicts a bold showing from the smart six-year-old, who will start from barrier six, saying: āI think he is the best horse in the race, and I wouldnāt swap him with any other horse in the race. However, I would definitely swap draws with Patched.
Voakās new venture off to a flyer
Outstanding reinsman Chris Voak has resumed training pacers and he made a perfect start to his new venture — after an absence of almost 12 years — when he drove four-year-old You Fly With Me (Somebeachsomewhere) to a smart all-the-way victory at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night.
This was his first success as a trainer for eleven and a half years — since he trained Telford Eldeejay for her win at Gloucester Park on December 7, 2010. That was one of his final starters in his initial stint as a trainer when he prepared 21 winners from 229 runners — before he concentrated on his career as a driver.
Voak, who has driven 28 winners this year, has been one of the Stateās best drivers over the past decade, landing more than a hundred winners every season in the past ten years. He drove 156 winners in 2021 after a massive tally of 264 winners earned him the honour of the Stateās leading driver in the 2019-20 season.
Voak was a teenager when he began as a trainer, before he started out as a driver, a career which has netted him 1597 winners, including five in group 1 feature events, and $15,751,768 in stakemoney.
āNow, if I want to survive in the game I have to train,ā explained Voak. āI canāt survive by driving alone, anymore. And with a lack of opportunity for driving I canāt make an income out of driving, so Asha (my wife) and I have gone into training. We have nine in work who are stabled at Robbie Tomlinsonās property at West Pinjarra.ā
You Fly With Me is a New Zealand-bred gelding, who raced ten times in New Zealand for one win and four placings. āHe was recommended to me by a good friend of ours, Ric Giometti from Sydney, who is one of several part-owners, including a lot of family friends and first-time owners,ā said Voak.
For complete fields for Gloucester Park Friday, click here.
by Ken Casellas, for Gloucester Park