Hall chasing 100 wins

Champion harness racing reinsman Gary Hall Jnr looks set to land his 100th winner of the season at Gloucester Park on Friday night and his legion of fans would dearly love that he achieves this milestone by driving superstar Chicago Bull to victory in the $25,000 RSM Rotary Club of Fremantle Pace.

However, it could arrive earlier in the program when Hall drives in-form pacers Plutonium, Alta Blues and Nota Bene Denario.

Hall landed his 99th winner of the 2021 season when talented colt Finvarra beat Machnificent by a head in a fast-run 1730m event at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night. The 38-year-old maestro has driven more than a century of winners for the past 16 seasons.

The eight-year-old Chicago Bull will be having his 95th start in a race when he begins from the perfect No. 1 barrier in Friday night’s race at his third outing after a spell. He has shocked his admirers in being unplaced on the past two Fridays.

He started from the outside barrier (No. 9) in a 2130m Free-For-All last Friday night when he settled in last position in the field of 12. He started a three-wide move approaching the bell and moved into fifth position at the 600m mark before lacking sparkle and dropping back to finish last behind Whozideawasthis.

“I was somewhat disappointed with the run,” said Hall. “He felt like he was lacking a bit of dash. I don’t know whether he’s taking that little bit longer to come good. If he doesn’t win this week, we know we’ve got problems.

“As Happy As Larry (barrier two) and Jack Farthing (four) are fast beginners. My aim will be to lead, and if we can hold As Happy As Larry, we should be able to hold the rest of the field. I think Chicago Bull’s biggest danger could be Balcatherine.”

Balcatherine, prepared by Chicago Bull’s trainer Gary Hall Snr, will start from barrier two on the back line with Callan Suvaljko in the sulky. She was having her second start after a spell when she finished eighth behind Whozideawasthis last Friday night. She impressed with her fast-finishing short half-head second placing behind Perfect Major a fortnight earlier.

“Balcatherine felt good last week,” said Suvaljko. “She didn’t really get a clear run and went to the line good.”

The Hall stable will also be represented in this week’s event by Ideal Liner (Michael Grantham, barrier five) and Diego (Maddison Brown, barrier seven). It is difficult to envisage either pacer being able to beat Chicago Bull, and evergreen star Vultan Tin faces a stern test from out wide at barrier eight.