Promising New Zealand-bred mare Liberty Rose looks set for a successful campaign after her impressive first-up performance last Friday night and she should prove one of the best bets at Gloucester Park on Friday night by winning the $20,000 Retravision Your Air Conditioning Specialists Pace over 2130m.
Hall of Fame trainer Gary Hall Snr should have the four-year-old at her peak to contest feature events the Lewis Pace, the Golden Girls Mile at Pinjarra and the Empress Stakes at Gloucester Park in the next couple of months.
He produced Liberty Rose in wonderful shape for her return to racing last week after a five-month absence. Liberty Rose started from barrier six and she caught the eye when she surged home from sixth at the bell to finish a half-length second to the brilliant five-year-old mare Maczaffair.
Liberty Rose is favourably drawn at barrier two on the front line on Friday night and Gary Hall Jnr is expected to make full use of her excellent gate speed by attempting an all-the-way win. The daughter of Mach Three has won at five of her 11 WA starts and she could develop into an ideal candidate for the group 2 Nights of Thunder, the heats of which will be run on Friday night of next week.
An even bunch of mares will contest Friday night’s race, with Liberty Rose’s chief rivals appearing to be Mary Catherine, Im Stylish and Lady De La Renta. Mary Catherine has been racing consistently for Capel trainer Andrew de Campo and is handily drawn at barrier three.
Four-year-old Lady De La Renta has won at ten of her 25 starts and she followed an easy all-the-way win last Friday week with a solid fourth behind Maczaffair last Friday night when she finished strongly from eighth at the bell.
The Justin Prentice-trained Im Stylish will be tested from barrier eight, but she can never be underestimated. She has raced 31 times for ten wins, seven seconds and three thirds.
Adding interest to the race will be the return to racing after a four-month absence of four-year-old Veiled Secret, whose final 14 starts as a three-year-old for trainer Ross Olivieri produced five wins, five seconds and one third placing. She will start from barrier two on the back line with Chris Voak in the sulky.
Olivieri has bright prospects with Lord Willoughby in the Retravision Half Yearly Clearance Pace. The extremely consistent pacer (14 wins, 17 seconds and seven thirds from 56 starts) will begin from the inside of the back line and will take a power of beating.
Lord Willoughby was most unlucky when seventh behind Chiaroscuro last Friday night when he was trapped wide early and had to be restrained to the rear before battling on, out wide, in the final circuit. He finished boldly to win from Always Arjay the previous Friday night when having his second start after a spell.
Ken Casellas