Hall Snr to ride his luck in WA Pacing Cup

CHAMPION harness racing trainer Gary Hall Sr hopes to ride his luck from backing the Melbourne Cup winner as he chases a remarkable 14th TABTouch WA Pacing Cup win at Gloucester Park tomorrow (Friday) night.

Hall Sr “ticked a big one off Bucket List” earlier this week when he made a hit-and-run trip to Flemington for the Melbourne Cup.

“Can you believe I’ve never been? It was Bucket List stuff and I backed the winner, too,” he laughed.

“I liked the fact he (Mark Zahra, jockey) jumped off Gold Trip to ride Without A Fight. Mark used to come out to our place as a young kid, too.”

Hall Sr arrived home Wednesday afternoon and immediately switched back in WA Cup winning mode, but still kept his trademark cheekiness.

“I don’t suppose anyone will want me winning it … a 14th would be ridiculous, but for some reason it just seems to have been my race,” he said.

Hall Sr labelled Jumpingjackmac (gate two), to be driven by Stewie McDonald, as the best of his four chances to snare a 14th win. His other runners are Diego (three), Prince Of Pleasure (10) and Wildwest (12).

“I’ve always thought Jumpingjackmac was my best hope and now he’s drawn well, too,” he said. “You could drive him two ways from the draw, but he’s worked that well at home, I think we’ll come out hard and try to lead.

“If he got the front without having to do too much, gee he’d be hard to beat. He’s got the speed to hold Diego if we want and Magnificent Storm would want to be very quick out to get across us.

“He’s been a terrific horse to us and deserves to win a race like this.”

Hall Sr admits an emotional connection to defending champion Diego, who is not only a stable favourite but has Maddison Brown aboard, who missed the winning drive last year because of concussion protocols.

“She deserves to win it, doesn’t she?” he said. “We’ve certainly got him back to his very best at the right time and he’s done some many great things, you have to respect him.”

Hall’s son, Gary Jr, is chasing his 10th WA Cup aboard stable third-stringer Prince Of Pleasure.

“He’s a sniper at this sort of level and he’s got the right sort of draw (inside back row),” he said.

“He’ll be three or four back on the pegs and ‘Junior’s’ record of getting out from those sorts of runs, especially in big races, is terrific.

“He’s also at his best over the 2500m and it’s worth noting he carried a flat tyre for the last lap last start and still made up ground.”

While Hall Sr respects Cup favourite Magnificent Storm, he relishes the chance to take him on over the longer 2536m trip.

“I don’t think he’s a stayer. If it’s a truly run race, I think he’ll struggle to run the trip right out,” he said.

From RWWA