Top colt is back

Group 1 winner Finvarra headlines Hall of Fame trainer Gary Hall Snr’s team at Gloucester Park on Friday night after his champion pacer Chicago Bull was scratched from the Free-For-All event on the card.

Finvarra, an American Ideal three-year-old, hasn’t raced since taking out the $100,000 3YO Westbred Colts & Geldings Classic (2130m) on June 18 and is set to tackle Friday’s Group 3 Preux Chevalier (2130m) first-up off the back of two recent Byford trial wins.

Hall says he’s very pleased with how the colt has come back this preparation and is looking forward to his race return.

“He trialled really good on Sunday,” he said.

“He’s had a couple of trials.

“He went a bit rough the first time so we changed a bit of gear on him and took him out there on Sunday to make sure he was alright and he trialled good.

“He ran a quick last quarter and I was pretty happy with him.”

Finvarra has won four of his six race starts to date and Hall doesn’t shy away from drawing comparisons to three-year-old stablemate Jumpingjackmac, whom the master horseman has publicly labelled the best horse in his yard.

“He’s right up there with the best three-year-olds in WA, I reckon,” Hall said.

“There’s not much between him and Jumpingjackmac.

“Jumpingjackmac probably has a little bit more staying ability than him but he’s got a fair bit of speed.

“He’s a high-class horse, there’s no doubt.”

Meanwhile, Hall is confident Alta Blues can overcome his 40m handicap when the Alta Christiano four-year-old lines up in Friday night’s Stay Safe, DTS PPE Products Pace (2503m).

“Alta Blues will be hard to beat,” he said.

“It’s not that strong a field so he’ll be hard to beat.

“Euphoria’s got an each-way chance in the next race, too.”

To view the Gloucester Park fields for Friday click here.

By Michael Heaton for Gloucester Park