Prizemoney bonanza at Gloucester Park on Friday

A harness racing prizemoney bonanza worth nearly $1 million will be on offer for the best WA-bred pacers in a power-packed racing card at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

The second annual “W Night” – which will again celebrate the State’s Westbred pacers – has attracted bumper fields, with 120 local runners set to battle it out for $924,000 in prizemoney.

Racing WA Head of Harness Racing and Special Projects Cameron Brown said a decision to this year include two respective $100,000 four-year-old races for colts and geldings and fillies and mares, had added more momentum to the night that will feature single-race prizemoney of up to $215,000.

The event will also include a WA Owner Appreciation function.

“The second edition of W Night is shaping to be the best yet,” Brown said.

“We added the two four-year-old features this year and it looks to be a stunning night of racing. It shows how important it is to be Westbred and highlights what a great breeding scheme it is.

“The quality of our Westbred stock is getting better every year.”

The Aiden De Campo-trained Wishing Belle and Ideal Beach, from the Justin Prentice stables, are a pair of Westbred two-year-olds who will be back in the spotlight on Friday night and appear to have big futures ahead of them.

Another Westbred star, recent $1 million barrier breaker Mighty Ronaldo, will also be back in action in the third race on the night. Also under the astute guidance of Prentice, the evergreen seven-year-old passed the magic million-dollar mark last month to join only Vultan Tin and David Hercules as WA-bred pacers to have achieved the prizemoney feat.

Mighty Ronaldo was sold for just $22,000 at the Perth yearling sales and co-owner Glen Mortimer, who also has a share in Ideal Beach, said the gelding’s success had been something of a catalyst for Westbred pacers.

“It’s been an amazing journey with Mighty Ronaldo,” Mortimer said.

“It’s a real testament to Justin Prentice to be able to go to a yearling sale to buy an unknown Westbred and he turns out to be a millionaire. That’s pretty special compared to buying a tried horse who has already won races.

“You’d just love a stable full of horses like him because you know what you’re going to get … he just tries. He’s been really durable racing year-in, year-out at the highest level and hopefully the old boy has still got a couple of years left in him.

“We’re breeding to a different level of stallion in WA now and that’s made a huge difference. The quality of the Westbred breed has improved tenfold in the past 10 or 20 years.”

Mortimer is also a part-owner in Westbred pacers Elite Fleet and Ruby Lovera, who will also both be racing for the big prizemoney on W Night.

Gloucester Park chief executive officer Michael Radley agreed that Westbred quality had improved significantly in the past decade and he was adamant it was still getting better.

“Our top breeders have developed great broodmare lines and are going to best sires in the world,” Radley said.

“Mighty Ronaldo just broke through the $1 million in stakes and has raced at the top level since he was two years old against other great WA-bred horses such as Lavra Joe. This year’s crop of two year olds look outstanding, with Wishing Belle a standout in fillies and Ideal Beach taking on some top-class boys.”

The first race on W Night is set to start at 5.22pm.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Steve Butler for RWWA