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Champion harness racing reinsman Gary Hall jnr will be in action in the first nine races at Gloucester Park on Friday night, and he scratched his head when he declared “it’s a hard meeting and I don’t have a stand-out drive. I’d say Master Publisher (A Rocknroll Dance) could be my best.”
Master Publisher, prepared by Gary Hall snr, will start from barrier No. 4 in race nine, the 2536m Steel Blue Boots Pace. He reappeared after a 15-month absence when he was an $8 chance from barrier three in a 2130m event last Friday night. He raced in seventh position in the one-wide line before finishing solidly to be third behind Sound Wave and Moonlite Drive.
“He went pretty good, first-up,” said Hall jnr. “He has had a lot of little niggling problems.”
Master Publisher’s stablemate Faster Than Dad (Maddison Brown) appears to be one of Master Publisher’s main rivals, along with Pocket The Cash, McArdles Gem and Altas Angel.
Faster Than Dad has won at five of his 15 starts and should gain a favourable passage after starting from the No. 2 barrier on the back line, immediately behind McArdles Gem, who set the pace when second to Valbonne over 2130m last Friday week.
Pocket The Cash (Bettor’s Delight), to be driven by Lindsay Harper for Bunbury trainer Stephen Reed, should also enjoy a good trip after starting from the inside of the back line.
Hall also gives Will I Rocknroll (Rock N Roll Heaven) a good chance of winning when he starts from the No. 2 barrier in the 2130m Bobs In Town Pace. The New Zealand-bred seven-year-old scored an easy all-the-way win three starts ago, and then was unplaced from wide draws at his next two outings.
Will I Rocknroll began from the outside barrier in a field of eight last Friday night when he raced at the rear and was still last with 50m to travel before sprinting strongly, out four wide, to finish a close-up sixth behind Arma Einstein.
“His last run was super,” said Hall. “It was as good a sixth as you would see. It would be nice if he is able to cross to the front at the start.”
Hall drove Lady Violetta for Banjup trainer Annie Belton when the American Ideal filly made her debut in a 1684m event at Pinjarra on Monday, and he is looking for a solid effort from the No. 1 barrier in the 2130m Spurs Champion League Pace on Friday night.
Lady Violetta was checked in the score-up, raced without cover early and then was restrained to the rear before gaining the one-out, one-back position and then finishing last behind Fess Up in the field of six. “It was a bit better run than it might have looked,” said Hall. “She has good gate speed.”
Williams seeks second Pure Steel victory
Williams is full of hope that Ezana will give him his second success in the Pure Steel Pace, following Major Pocket’s all-the-way victory in May 2019 when the five-year-old stallion set the pace and beat All Jokes Aside by a metre.
Ezana, a gelding and the first foal out of Hartofdixie, will be handled by harness racing’s man of the moment Dylan Egerton-Green, who has landed nine winners from his past 15 drives.
Ezana will start from the No. 1 barrier and Egerton-Green will be anxious to take full of advantage of the prized barrier and the gelding’s excellent gate speed in a bid for an all-the-way win. Ezana has been freshened up since he started out wide at barrier six and had a tough run in the breeze before finishing second to Markham Eyre over 2185m at Pinjarra three Wednesdays ago.
That followed impressive wins at his three previous starts, and his WA record of eight wins and two seconds from eleven outings has earned him favouritism for Friday night’s event.
Ezana’s main rivals appear to be Socrates, Hillview Bondi and Moonlite Drive.
Socrates (Art Major), a comparatively inexperienced five-year-old, raced eight times in New Zealand for two wins and five placings before arriving in WA and impressing greatly with his five wins and a second from six starts for champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond.
Socrates will be driven by Ryan Warwick, who won the Pure Steel Pace with $9.90 chance El Jacko (trained by Skye Bond) in May 2018, and then Warwick scored an easy all-the-way victory from barrier one in last year’s Pure Steel Pace with the Greg and Skye Bond-trained Parmesan .
Socrates looks capable of overcoming the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line.
He put up a tremendous performance last Friday night when he galloped at the standing start and lost about ten lengths before recovering quickly and then working hard in the breeze and getting to the front 500m from home and finishing a gallant second to his talented stablemate Glenledi Chief.
In-form trainer Ryan Bell will be represented by smart four-year-olds Hillview Bondi (Somebeachsomewhere) and Sound Wave (Mach Three), with Kyle Symington choosing to drive Hillview Bondi from the awkward draw at No. 7 on the front line, with Aiden de Campo being engaged for Sound Wave, who will start from the outside of the back line.
Bell is confident that both pacers will be prominent. Sound Wave notched his eighth win from 39 starts when he led and defeated Moonlite Drive and Master Publisher last Friday night, while Hillview Bondi is in brilliant form, with his nine starts this season producing four wins, four seconds and a third placing.
“It’s a big rise in class for Hillview Bondi, but when you look at his sectionals and the way he is racing, I’m sure he will acquit himself well,” said Bell. “He hasn’t met horses of this calibre, but he has amazed me. Obviously, he just loves running his own races (in the breeze).
“It will be a bit different for him this week. We will stick with his normal racing pattern, but he will have to be controlled a bit more than just letting him run. He is big and raw and a bit immature. But he will still run a good, honest race.
“Sound Wave has already proved he can go with Socrates. Earlier this year he ran Socrates to three-quarters of a length over a mile (1684m) at Pinjarra, rating 1.53.5. He is a bit of an underrated horse. He’s tough and I’m not discounting him.”
Moonlite Drive (Bettor’s Delight), trained by Michael Young, is racing keenly for trainer Michael Young. He has shown admirable determination when finishing seconds to Pradason and Sound Wave on the past two Friday nights, after working hard in the breeze.
He will start from barrier two on the back line and will be driven by Gary Hall jnr, who drove Balcatherine to an easy all-the-way win (from the No. 1 barrier) in the 2020 Pure Steel Pace.
Nathan Turvey, who drove Livura when he was beaten a head by Harry Hoo in the 2017 Pure Steel Pace, is hoping for better luck on Friday night when his former Tasmanian performer Cool Water Paddy (Ohoka Arizona) starts from the inside of the back line.
Cool Water Paddy had no luck at his WA debut last Friday night when he finished eight behind Sound Wave. “He had no luck and was hanging on the home corner,” said driver Emily Suvaljko. “This week he is starting behind a real nice horse (Enzana) and hopefully we’ll get the last crack.”
Cabsav can bounce back
American Ideal two-year-old filly Cabsav showed her class early this year with two wins and a second from three starts, including an impressive victory in the group 1 Sales Classic, before being sent for a spell.
She reappeared after a three-month absence when she started from the No. 3 barrier and raced in the breeze before wilting to finish fifth in a field of seven last Friday week.
Trainer Mike Reed admitted that he was disappointed with her performance, but said that Cabsav was a bit underdone, and that he was now confident that she was capable of returning to form when she starts from out wide at barrier No. 9 in the 2130m Spurs Champion League Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“She hadn’t trialled before her first-up run, but since then she has worked well and I think she can win, providing that there is a bit of pace on,” he said.
Adding considerable interest to Friday night’s race will be the return to racing of trainer-reinsman Aiden de Campo’s talented filly Between The Thorns, who will start from barrier seven at her first appearance since she hit a wheel, broke into a gallop and finished last behind Cabsav in the Sales Classic on February 25.
At her only previous start Between The Thorns began from barrier six, dashed to an early lead and went on to win by a length from Cabsav at a 1.58.1 rate over 1730m.
Also resuming after a spell is Northam trainer Jesse Moore’s promising Sweet Lou filly Zephyra, who will be driven by Dylan Egerton-Green from out wide at barrier eight.
Zephyra, who impressed with a last-start fast-finishing win over 1730m at Gloucester Park on March 18, warmed up for this week’s event with an encouraging effort in a 2150m Byford trial last Sunday week. She started from the outside barrier in the field of five, was restrained to last, met with interference 1300m from home and was fourth at the bell before dashing to the lead with 350m to travel and finishing second to the fast-finishing Jackie Daniels.
Reed is also confident that five-year-old Caveman will prove to be hard to beat in the 2130m Bobs In Town Pace in which he will be start from barrier seven with Shannon Suvaljko in the sulky.
Caveman raced wide early and then without cover before finishing determinedly to be a head second to the pacemaker Arma Einstein last Friday night. He also raced in the breeze when a winner at his two previous starts.
“His past couple of runs have been super,” said Reed. “I think he goes better when he races outside the leader. When he has to go out wide he seems to get a bit lost, but when he is outside the leader he is in it for the fight.
“He is in career-best form since I have changed his work a bit. I’m not hoppling him at all, and am working him, leading off the cart for 20 minutes at a time.”
Eton Rock is ready to roll
Promising three-year-old Eton Rock (Pet Rock) has won at Yarra Valley, Pinjarra, Narrogin, Kellerberrin and Bunbury in a 12-start career and he is ready to put his best foot forward, according to his driver Emily Suvaljko.
The Nathan Turvey-trained Eton Rock is favourably drawn at barrier two in the $20,250 Trevors Getaway Holidays Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he faces the daunting task of challenging the brilliant Greg and Skye Bond-trained gelding Street Hawk.
“Eton Rock’s last-start win at Bunbury when he led early from barrier three and then sat behind the pacemaker before running on to win from The Good Life, coming home in 27.8sec. and 27.4sec., has given me confidence going into Friday’s race,” said Suvaljko.
“He is a quality horse and is a strong each-way chance. I think that sat-up is his best bet. I haven’t been asking him to get out of the gate, but he still begins pretty good.
“Free Wheeling has drawn barrier one and he gets out of the gate quite nicely. He went pretty good (from barrier six and racing in the breeze) when fourth behind Little Darling last week. I drove Elsamay, who finished second, and I consider Eton Rock is a better horse than Elsamay.”
Street Hawk, who will be driven by Ryan Warwick from barrier five, was unplaced at his three starts in New Zealand as a two-year-old before being extremely impressive this year as a three-year-old, winning at two of his three starts in New Zealand and then scoring in fine style at his first two appearances in WA.
He led from barrier three and won by six lengths from Sunshine Swift, rating 1.57.8 over 2185m at Pinjarra, and then scored a powerful victory over Pocketfulofpepper, rating 1.58.4 over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Tuesday of last week. After an unsuccessful bid for the early lead Street Hawk raced behind the pacemaker Ifeel Sikdarl, and then moved to the breeze with 1300m to travel before taking the lead on the home turn.
Suvaljko has given punters a valuable lead by choosing to drive Eton Rock ahead of the Peter Tilbrook-trained Seven No Trumps, a winner at five of his 29 starts, and handily drawn at barrier three. He will be handled by Gary Hall jnr.
For complete race fields, click here.
by Ken Casellas, for Gloucester Park
