Gloucester Park preview

Gloucester Park harness racing preview with Ken Casellas.

Soho Seraphine set to sparkle

Smart four-year-old mare Soho Seraphine (Betting Line) is fit and ready to shine in the $50,000 group 3 Kerry Clarke Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night, according to her driver Mitch Miller.

Soho Seraphine, bred and owned by Rob Watson and trained by Kim Prentice, faces an interesting challenge of winning at her first-up appearance after a 15-week absence.

“She has been here (in WA) for about eight weeks and has had a good body of work,” said Miller. “Her work at home has been impressive. She has been a noted frontrunner for most of her career, and I think she will lead (from the No. 1 barrier) and be hard to beat.

“Friday night’s event looks an even Free-For-All for mares, without any real standouts. Soho Seraphine still will have to be good to win, but she has all the favours, drawing barrier one. I expect her to measure up to be among the best mares in the State.”

Soho Seraphine has raced 30 times for eight wins (five when leading all the way), nine seconds and five thirds for earnings of $202,532. She has been unplaced at her past four starts (twice when setting the pace), and at her most recent appearance she raced at the rear and finished last in a field of ten over 1609m at Menangle on March 9.

In February 2023 Soho Seraphine won a heat of the New South Wales Derby at Menangle, beating Windy Hill Tara, before setting the pace in the final the following week and finishing second to Windy Hill Tara.

She then came to Western Australia seven months later when she led from barrier eight for reinsman Kyle Harper and scored a runaway victory from Purest Copper in a heat of the WA Oaks at Gloucester Park.

A week later Soho Seraphine was the $2.10 favourite in the Oaks final for trainer-reinsman Mick Stanley when she began from the No. 2 barrier on the back line. She settled in seventh position in the one-wide line before starting a three-wide move after 700m to get to the breeze at the 1400m. She fought on gamely to finish a close fourth behind August Moon, Turn The Page and Zephyra.

Looming large as a serious danger to Soho Seraphine is Three Rumours, to be driven by Gary Hall jnr for Ravenswood trainer Nathan Turvey.

Three Rumours, who has earned $221,037 from eleven wins, 19 seconds and three thirds, will begin from the No. 2 barrier on the back line in the field of twelve. She warmed up for this week’s assignment in wonderful style last Friday week when she raced in the breeze before bursting to the front 480m from home and racing away to win by four lengths from Brulee, rating 1.56.1 over 2130m.

“That was a very good run,” said Turvey. “She will need things to go our way, but she should get a good run.”

Turvey will drive his stable’s No. 2 runner Eve Crocker, who has won at her past two starts, at Pinjarra and Gloucester Park. “She will find it hard from out wide at barrier eight,” said Turvey.

Baskerville trainer Ryan Bell is looking for a strong showing from Queeninthecorner, who is favourably drawn at barrier two and will be driven by Hayden Charles. Queeninthecorner led when a close second to Eve Crocker last Friday night after setting the pace and winning over 2130m at her two previous outings.

“Everyone thinks Queeninthecorner is just a leader and a roller,” said Bell. “But she can be sat up and be just as good.”

Busselton owner-trainer Barry Howlett is setting the lightly-raced five-year-old Little Darling the task of running a strong race at her first appearance for six months.

Little Darling, to be driven by Chris Lewis from barrier six, warmed up for Friday night’s race in fine style by sprinting over the final quarters in 27.9sec. and 28.4sec. and winning a 2100m trial at Bunbury last Saturday.

Also resuming after a spell will be the Murray Lindau-trained Beyond The Sea, a talented mare who has raced 46 times for eleven wins and eleven placings for stakes of $185,866.

Beyond The Sea, who will be making her first appearance for 13 weeks, will start from the outside of the back line and is capable of a bold showing.

Stuart McDonald will drive Acharne Girl for trainer Gary Hall snr. The five-year-old is racing well and should be prominent from the inside of the back line, with the prospect of enjoying a perfect sit behind the likely pacemaker Soho Seraphine.

Capel trainer-reinsman Aiden De Campo’s five-year-old Sovrana impressed with her first-up performance last Friday week when she began out wide at barrier eight and was ninth at the bell before running home powerfully, out four wide, to finish fourth behind Three Rumours. She will begin from the No. 5 barrier.

Harper is on Cloud Nine

Byford-trainer-reinsman Donald Harper is an astute judge of horseflesh, and he is hoping for an early success with the consistent New Zealand-bred seven-year-old Cloud Nine (Bettor’s Delight), who is perfectly drawn at barrier No. 1 in the 2130m TABtouch Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Harper, who is on the doorstep of driving his 400TH winner, will handle Cloud Nine, who has been racing in fine form for trainer-reinsman Stuart McDonald.

“I bought him for $11,000 this morning (Tuesday) and then picked him up later in the day,” said Harper, who was in good form in the sulky at Gloucester Park on Tuesday evening when he had three drives for three third placings — with Cherry On The Cake, Patrikiar and Sellune.

“Cloud Nine was advertised for sale and I was somewhat surprised that someone hadn’t snapped him up before I made my offer to buy him.

“We bought him because we haven’t had a Friday night runner for a while. We had Starlight Dream racing a month or so ago, but she is now having a break. Apart from that we have been pretty quiet in town.”

Harper has trained twelve winners from 49 starters this season, with Starlight Dream showing the way with five wins from seven starts.

The 36-year-old Harper has prepared 205 winners, with Hayton Brain being his most successful pacer, having 37 starts for him as a trainer and driver for ten wins, 15 placings and $292,695 in prizemoney.

Between 2007 and 2009 Hayton Brain won the group 3 Fremantle Members Sprint twice, the 2008 group 2 Celebrity Sprint, the group 2 Mount Eden Sprint in 2007, the group 3 2007 Village Kid Sprint at Northam, and the group 3 Parliamentarians Cup in 2008. Hayton Brain also finished third behind Mysta Magical Mach and Divisive in the WA Pacing Cup in January 2009.

Cloud Nine, who has raced 75 times for ten wins, 17 seconds, four thirds and $129,881, is in splendid form, having won over 2536m at Gloucester Park four starts ago and being placed at his past two starts when finishing strongly to be a close second to Lil Happy Fella and third behind Ira Poole and My Ultimate Baxter over 2130m last Friday night.

Regarding his tactics on Friday night Harper said: “We will come off the gate and then assess our plans from there. He is probably at his best, sit and kick. It would be nice to get some return early.”

Cloud Nine’s toughest rival is sure to be Youre So Fine, who has the ability to overcome the disadvantage of starting out wide at barrier No. 7. Youre So Fine, prepared by Gary Hall snr, has won at eleven of his 25 starts. At his latest start he was involved in an unsuccessful challenge for the lead for more than a lap before getting to the front at the bell and then fading to finish a distant tenth, with Cloud Nine running on from eighth at the bell to finish second to Lil Happy Fella.

Machs Bettor is at his peak

In-form trainer Ryan Bell is delighted with Machs Bettor’s (Bettor’s Delight) return to top form, and he is bubbling with confidence at the five-year-old’s winning prospects when the gelding starts from the prized No. 1 barrier in the $23,000 Cowden The Insurance Brokers Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

“I have got him back to his best form, probably a bit better than that,” said Bell, who has engaged champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr to drive Machs Bettor for the first time, replacing Ryan Warwick, who drove the pacer for the first time when he impressed with his flying finish to snatch victory over Soho Firestone last Friday night.

“Warwick is going away on holidays for the weekend and won’t be able to drive at Friday night’s meeting. Machs Bettor should lead and prove hard to beat.”

Last Friday night Machs Bettor was restrained from barrier four and he raced in eighth position in the field of nine before Warwick switched him out wide approaching the home turn. The gelding went five wide on the bend and sprouted wings to get up in the final couple of strides, rating 1.56.8 over 2130m, with final quarters of 28.8sec. and 28.02sec.

While Machs Bettor makes strong appeal as the likely winner, he will need to be at his top to beat pacers of the calibre of Lusaka, Paul Edward, Dominus Factum, Franco Ecuador, State Of Heaven and All Is Well.

Lusaka, to be driven by Deni Roberts for star trainers Greg and Skye Bond, is awkwardly drawn at barrier six, but is capable of a bold effort.

“Lusaka has been racing so well for a long time and he should figure in the finish,” said Roberts. “There is a lot of speed in the race, and he is quite versatile.” Four-year-old Lusaka, a winner at 13 of his 27 starts, ran home strongly from the one-out, one-back position to be a short half-head second to The Miki Taker over 2130m last Friday week.

Paul Edward, trained and driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, will start from the No. 5 barrier, and will have many admirers following his stylish first-up victory last Friday week when he trailed the pacemaker and stablemate Hale Saint Louie before finishing fast to win by a length after a final 400m of 27.9sec.

The Kim Prentice-trained Franco Ecuador will be driven by Mitch Miller from barrier three. The smart seven-year-old has raced 17 times for seven wins and five placings. He overraced in the breeze before fading to finish eighth behind Ira Poole over 2130m last Friday night.

“He choked down, and we have made a few changes this week, taking the Dollys off and using a different bit,” said Miller. “If he settles, I think he is as good as any runner in the race. He is not purely a frontrunner, and I can still see him winning.”

Roberts praises Jett Star

Outstanding driver Deni Roberts was searching for superlatives to describe Jett Star’s (Bettor’s Delight) performance when charging home with an electrifying burst to finish a close third to Lil Happy Fella and The Miki Taker last Friday night.

“His run was sensational, coming from back in the field and going 1.54,” she enthused when predicting the Greg and Skye Bond-trained New Zealand-bred six-year-old would run a great race in the 2130m Catalanotrucks.com.au Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Jett Star will start from barrier six and should prove mighty hard to beat when he clashes with star four-year-old Rolling Fire.

Jett Star began from the outside barrier (No. 9) last Friday night and was restrained by Roberts back to last in the field of twelve. He was tenth with 250m to travel before going six wide on the home turn and flying home after dashing over the final quarters in 28.6sec. and 28.26sec.

This outstanding effort followed wins at his two previous outings — when he raced wide early and then in the breeze before winning from Lil Happy Fella at a 1.55.8 rate over 2130m and then when he set the pace and rated 1.56.4 in beating Magnus Victor over 1730m.

Emily Suvaljko is looking forward to a strong performance from the Justin Prentice-trained Rolling Fire, who will start from out wide at barrier seven.

“I was really happy with him when he went very well and won from Acharne Girl and Lusaka two starts ago, and he went just as good and lost no admiration from me last Friday week when he came home, out wide, in a fast final quarter (27.5sec.) to finish a very close third behind The Miki Taker and Lusaka,” she said.

“Rolling Fire is versatile, and I can drive him just how I want to, and he is good, sat up, and can do a bit of work as well.”

Suvaljko is also looking forward to driving the John Graham-trained Iseeubaby from the No.1 barrier in the final event, the 2130m Join Trotsynd Pace for two-year-old fillies.

“I drove Iseeubaby for his all-the-way win on debut when he ran 1.58.3 (over 1609m at Bunbury) in February,” said Suvaljko. “He was just jogging and ran home in 27.8sec.”

Isseubaby then had one more start, finishing second to Reinette over 1609m at Bunbury early in March before going for a spell. She will clash with trainer Ryan Bell’s outstanding filly Bettagetonpip, trainer Justin Prentice’s highly promising pair of Ruby Lovera and Winter Wonder and trainer Mike Reed’s smart filly Ruby Lou.

Bettagetonpip notched her third win from five starts when Ryan Warwick drove her to an all-the-way victory over Jaxs Ideal over 1730m last Friday night. Warwick is out of town and will be replaced in the sulky by Aiden De Campo.

Bell is confident that Bettagetonpip will complete a hat-trick on Friday night despite the filly starting from the outside barrier in the field of six runners. “She nods off a bit in front, and the wide barrier should not be a major problem,” he said.

Ruby Lovera will be making her debut and will start from barrier three with Gary Hall jnr in the sulky, while Winter Wonder will be driven by Maddison Brown from the No. 4 barrier at her first appearance for 16 weeks. Winter Wonder has had two starts for an excellent third behind Ruby Lou and Bettagetonpip on debut followed by a strong-finishing fifth behind Copper Head Lady in the $125,000 Sales Classic.

Apart from Jett Star, Roberts has excellent winning prospects with Tualou (race one), Blaze On (race two), Lusaka (race three) and Rattlin Lilly (race nine).

Tualou, trained by Greg and Skye Bond, was a winner as a two-year-old at Alexandra Park in August last year, and he has impressed with two wins and a second at his first three runs in WA. He gave a bold frontrunning display to score an effortless five-length victory over Visiting Hours over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night when he was not extended in dashing over the final 400m in 27.9sec.

Blaze On, trained by Bob Mellsop, has won at seven of his 17 starts and will be hard to beat from barrier three in the 1730m 7Plus Pace. “He has good gate speed, and this looks a good race for him,” said Roberts. “Hopefully, he will find the front.”

Blaze On’s chief rivals appear to be the Michael Young-trained Montana D J and trainer-reinsman Aiden De Campo’s smart four-year-old Sorridere, a winner at eight of his 26 starts.

The Bond-trained Rattlin Lilly is in sound form and looks a major chance from barrier three in the 2130m Bridge Bar Pace. “Her last start run (fifth behind October Reign last Friday night) was very good,” said Roberts. “This is not a strong race this week, so I aim to be more positive and put her into it to give her a winning chance.”

For complete race entries, click here.

by Ken Casellas, for Gloucester Park