Gloucester Park preview

Major Freeway is ready to fire

Major Freeway (Art Major) finished ninth behind Mr Fantastic in the Higgins Memorial last week, but champion reinsman Chris Lewis is bullish about the six-year-old’s winning prospects in the group 2 $50,000 Direct Trade Supply San Simeon Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

“His run last week wasn’t all that bad, he has drawn a lot better here, and if we can take advantage of the inside draw he will go pretty good,” Lewis said. “Major Freeway did a bit of work early before dropping right back and then making up good ground.”

Major Freeway, trained in Busselton by Barry Howlett, was a $26 chance from the No. 6 barrier last Friday night when he was trapped three wide for the first 1100m before he was restrained back to the rear. He was still last in the field of 12 300m from home before he finished with a solid burst.

Howlett and Lewis are hopeful that history repeats itself this week and that Major Freeway carries the No. 1 saddlecloth to victory. The No. 1 horse has been successful after leading all the way in the San Simeon Pace in the past three years —with Lewis scoring with One Off Delight in 2019, Ryan Warwick driving $1.06 favourite Patronus Star to victory in 2020 and Aiden de Campo winning with $1.50 favourite Alta Engen last year.

Leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, who prepared Patronus Star for his San Simeon win two years ago, hold a strong hand in this week’s event. They will be represented by Vulcan Star (barrier two), Socrates (three), Himself (six) and Markham Eyre (12).

Warwick has given punters a strong lead by choosing to drive the lightly-raced New Zealand-bred four-year-old Himself, who is unbeaten in Australia, with convincing victories in standing-start events at Bunbury, Northam and Gloucester Park. Colin Brown will drive Vulcan Star, Deni Roberts will be in the sulky behind Socrates, and Mitch Miler will drive Markham Eyre.

Himself revealed excellent fighting qualities last Friday night when he galloped at the start and then worked hard in the breeze before beating the pacemaker Cooper. Socrates was hampered for room when a close-up fourth behind Mr Fantastic last Friday night, and Markham Eyre caught the eye when he charged home from the rear to finish second in that race. Vulcan Star has won at nine of his 27 starts and is favourably drawn at barrier two.

Gary Hall jnr said that a wide draw at barrier eight would make life tough for Mr Fantastic. “However, you can’t write him off, not the way he is going,” he said. “I don’t think that he has peaked yet; he’s still on the way up.”

Four-year-old The Good Life has finished fourth and sixth behind Mr Fantastic at his past two outings, following a hat-trick of easy victories, and de Campo is looking forward for a strong showing on Friday night.

“The Good Life will start from the inside of the back line, and this is a good draw for him,” said de Campo. “I was happy with him last week when he got caught wide early and then got back in the field. He was last at the bell and I pulled him wide late, and he got to the line good. Drawn the rails this week is a big help for us.”

Baskerville trainer Ryan Bell is predicting a prominent performance from his four-year-old Sound Wave, who will start from barrier four and will be handled by Kyle Symington.

“Sound Wave is racing really well, and I think I was a bit easy on him, leading into last week’s race (when he trailed the pacemaker Pocket The Cash and finished third to that pacer),” he said. “So, we’ve upped his work. His form has surprised me. There’s nothing of him, and he seems to thrive on the week-to-week racing. And he still gets drilled at home.”

Suvaljko set for his century

Brilliant three-year-olds Swingband, The Miki Taker and Tricky Miki are sharing the limelight in early pre-race discussions on the opening event, the 2130m Noah George Fundraiser Night Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night, but ace reinsman Shannon Suvaljko is full of hope that he will drive Hoppys Way (Art Major) to victory to bring up his 100TH winner for the season.

Suvaljko, who has driven a hundred winners in a season nine times, plans to take full advantage of the prized No. 1 barrier in a bid for an all-the-way victory with the Mike Reed-trained Hoppys Way, who notched his seventh win from 19 starts when he began brilliantly from the outside barrier (No. 8), set the pace and won from Goodfellaz and Maungatahi over 2536m last Friday week.

“He does his best racing in front, and this week from the inside barrier he won’t have to burn off the gate like he did from the outside at his latest start,” said Suvaljko. “That’s really not his go.

“Hoppys Way will be out in front, and he can roll along. He is probably better suited over the 2130m than over 2536m. This is a good field, but he will step up to good horses like The Miki Taker and Tricky Miki. He should have an edge in fitness over them. He loves to roll along in front and he will give them something to chase.”

The Miki Taker, trained and driven by Aiden de Campo, and Tricky Miki, to be driven by Gary Hall jnr for trainer Justin Prentice, have scored splendid first-up wins after a spell, and along with Swingband (to be driven by Michael Grantham for trainer Ryan Bell) their clash with Hoppys Way and other talented three-year-olds should provide plenty of fireworks.

The Miki Taker will start from barrier two, with Tricky Miki at No. 3 and Swingband at No. 4.

The Miki Taker notched his eighth win from 16 starts when he raced in fourth position in an Indian file affair and was eased off the pegs with 700m to travel before surging home to get up and win narrowly from the pacemaker Onesmartfella at a 1.57.3 rate over 2100m at Bunbury on Wednesday of last week. He sprinted over the final quarters in 26.56sec. and 27.66sec.

“This is a good field on Friday night, with few of the better ones coming back, heading forward to the group 1 events,” said de Campo. “The Miki Taker was impressive first-up, and went a bit better than I expected. Normally, he takes a couple of runs to get to his top. He ran only a half but it was quite quick (54.2sec.), and he got the job done.”

Tricky Miki took his record to four wins from eight starts when he flew home to snatch a dramatic last-stride victory over Rockstar Rebel over 2100m at Bunbury three Fridays ago.

He raced in the one-out, one-back position before being shuffled back to seventh with 250m to travel, and was still sixth, out four wide, at the 100m. He then unleashed a dazzling late sprint. He dashed over the final 400m sections in 28.8sec. and 27.3sec.

“It’s a cracking race coming up,” said Hall. “Tricky Miki went super at Bunbury and I’ll be guided by Justin regarding how I drive him this week, and how aggressive he wants to be. My gut feeling is that he’ll tell me to use his closing speed, which is his main asset. This is the start of a long preparation which is a long way off the grand final.”

Swingband, a winner at nine of his 15 starts, will be appearing for the first time since he led from barrier two and won the group 2 Pearl Classic for three-year-olds on May 13. That was his sixth win from his past eight starts, with his other successes being in the group 2 Sales Classic, the group 2 Gold Bullion and the group 3 Caduceus Club Classic.

“Swinband’s form stands out a bit,” said Bell. “He is pretty forward in fitness, and he will need to see the mobile to really bring him on and to show his sharpness. It is probably good that the three good ones drawn inside of him will do what they want to do.

“The main aim on Friday night is to see Swingband hit the line hard. There are bigger fish to fry, and Friday night is just the starting point. I am very happy with his work.”

Patched is ready to atone

An important gear change should help smart square gaiter Patched (Skyvalley) to return to the winning list when he begins from the inside of the front line in the 2503m standing-start DTS Farm Fence Trot at Gloucester Park on Friday night, according to his Pinjarra trainer David Young.

“Hopefully, removing the nearside one-eyed blinker will help him,” said Young. “Aiden (de Campo) said that Patched had been a bit of a pig turning (behind the barrier strand before the start),” Young said.

“The starting procedure here in stands is a bit different to Melbourne (where he did his early racing) where horses have a bit more room in the move-up. Patched had been trying to look around.

“This will be his first run for me without the one-eyed blinker, but he has done a heap of track work without it and he has done a lot of jump-outs and has been as good as gold. As long as he gets away safely he should be able to keep his advantage over Beefour Bacardi, who will start off 30 metres. His work last Saturday was super, and he worked really well this morning (Tuesday).”

Patched performed badly when he was the $1.70 favourite and galloped badly from the No. 1 barrier in a 2130m mobile event four weeks ago. He dropped back to last and did a good job to make up a lot of lost ground in finishing fourth, three and a half lengths behind the winner Beefour Bacardi.

He was most impressive in winning by big margins at his three previous starts, two in stands and one in a mobile event.

Beefour Bacardi is in superb form for trainer Michael Young and reinsman Gary Hall jnr, with stylish wins at each of his past five starts, three in mobiles and one from the 30m mark in a 2116m stand at Pinjarra. He certainly cannot be discounted as a winning chance.

However, Young admits that the six-year-old, a winner at 16 of his 37 starts, faces a stern task against Patched.

“Beefour Bacardi is pretty much handicapped out of races here, having to come off 30 metres in every metro stand at Gloucester Park and drawing out wide in mobiles,” he said.

“So, I’m thinking about nominating him for the Interdominion Trotters Championship in Victoria in November and December. He has been too good for me to bash him around from back marks all the time, and I don’t want to get to the point where he is busting himself to run fourth off big handicaps.”

Euphoria is frustrating Hall

Consistent five-year-old Euphoria (American Ideal) is frustrating Gary Hall jnr with his inability to finish strongly in his races, with the star reinsman at his wit’s end as he tries to discover the formula to get the gelding to become a more genuine performer.

“He is an enigma,” said Hall. “He should have won last Friday (when he refused to do his best in the closing stages when a half-head second to Whatabro). I haven’t been able to work out how to get him to run through the line.

“I’ve tried hitting him, not hitting him, I tried giving him one, leaving the ear plugs in. I’ve tried everything and I just can’t seem to be able to get the best out of him. I know it’s there. He goes from bolting to just giving it away.

“He has won races by leading, so that gives him a chance this week when he starts from barrier one. I’ll try to lead, but I’m not confident. If he does break through I reckon he will string a few together.

“He is quite tough and can race tough. He should lead and the distance (2536m) is not a worry.”

The four horses drawn to Euphoria’s outside (Euphoric Moment, Plutonium, Fanci A Dance and Jaspervellabeach) appear Euphoria’s chief rivals.

Plutonium is a promising six-year-old with a record of 32 starts for eight wins, six seconds and a third placing. The Michael Young-trained pacer will be having his first start for 13 months and will be driven by Maddison Brown.

Plutonium warmed up for his comeback event with an excellent trial at Pinjarra on Thursday of last week when he led for the first 400m and then trailed the pacemaker Always Fast before running home solidly to be second to that pacer, rating 1.56.3 over 2185m.

“Barrier three is a bit of a tricky draw, so we will tuck him away and let him run home,” said Young.

For complete race fields, click here.

by Ken Casellas for Gloucester Park