FLAMIN TACT BREAKS THROUGH FOR FIRST WA SUCCESS

Veteran pacer Flamin Tact became the latest in a rapidly growing number of horses to benefit from the new regulations which stipulate that any pacer classified M2 or better will be dropped back a grade after a sequence of ten unsuccessful runs when he stormed home to win the $16,500 Howard Porter Memorial at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

This gave the New Zealand-bred eight-year-old his first win from 13 starts in WA and it ended a losing sequence of 13.

Flamin Tact was classified an M3-class pacer until four weeks ago, when he finished solidly to be fourth to Has The Answers at Gloucester Park and extended his losing run to ten.

He then dropped back a grade and as an M2-class pacer he was eligible to contest Friday night’s event restricted to M1 and M2-class horses.

Despite this wonderful concession, Flamin Tact was sent out a 41/1 outsider in an event expected to develop into a duel between Partywiththedevil (6/4 on) and The Final Word (5/2).

Up-and-coming reinsman Robbie Williams made an unsuccessful bid for the early lead before restraining Flamin Tact, who then enjoyed a perfect passage in sixth position in the one-wide line.

Nuclear Rose led early before Morgan Woodley sent The Final Word to the front after 500m. Partywiththedevil, from the outside barrier, dropped back to the rear before Gary Hall jun. dashed him forward, three wide, after 600m to work in the breeze.

However, Partywiththedevil, a smart winner at each of his three previous starts, raced ungenerously and broke into a gallop 650m from home. He quickly dropped back to last and finished last. Trainer Gary Hall sen. informed the stewards that Partywiththedevil would be sent for a spell.

The Final Word was hailed the winner after Partywiththedevil dropped out of contention and the eight-year-old looked home when he was almost two lengths clear of his nearest rivals with 120m to travel.

However, The Final Word shortened stride and Williams, who had taken Flamin Tact three wide approaching the home turn, brought the gelding home with a well-timed burst to hit the front in the final 30m and win from Sheer Dreams, who finished strongly, out wide, from eighth at the bell. Mister Hannible, seventh on the pegs at the bell, finished boldly into third place, with The Final Word wilting to fourth.

Flamin Tact is trained at Pinjarra by Chris King, who races the gelding in partnership with Barbara Gray. Friday night’s victory gave the 22-year-old Williams his first city-class driving success.

Flamin Tact had 11 starts in New Zealand for five wins and then he raced 59 times in Victoria for seven wins and 12 placings. He now has earned $120,932 from his 13 wins and 18 placings from 83 starts.    

 TRUCKERS RUFFNUT BURSTS PAST THE $200,000 MARK

Truckers Ruffnut, a genuine bargain buy, took his stake-earnings past the $200,000 mark when he cruised to an effortless victory in the Westralian Auto Finance Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Purchased for a mere $4500 at the Gloucester Standardbreds yearling sale in February 2007, the four-year-old son of Parsons Den now has amassed $203,127 from his 16 wins and 12 placings from 41 starts.

The horse is owned by Donald Knowles and his sons Mark and Brendon and is trained at Oakford by Murray Hansen.

Truckers Ruffnut started from the outside barrier in a field of nine and was the hot favourite at 3/1 on. Gary Hall jun. restrained Truckers Ruffnut at the start and the horse was still in last position after a lap had been covered.

Hall then started a three-wide run with 1300m to travel and Truckers Ruffnut moved to third (three wide) at the bell before getting to the front 370m from home. He then dashed away from his rivals and won by 8m from Dellas Jack, who followed his run over the final 1300m.

Truckers Ruffnut, who covered the final 800m in 58.sec. and rated 1.59.8 over the 2536m journey, is the second foal out of the unraced Safely Kept mare Royal Tour, whose granddam Zenover produced 11 winners and was the New Zealand broodmare of the year in 1993.

Truckers Ruffnut is now an M3-class pacer and Hansen has high hopes that the horse will develop into a contender for the rich carnival events at Gloucester Park in the coming summer.

 STEM-CELL TREATMENT SAVES PABLITO’S CAREER

The marvels of modern medical science have given smart pacer Pablito a fresh lease on life after he had broken down early last year.

Pablito took his WA record to 34 starts for 11 wins and 14 placings when Colin Brown drove him to an easy victory over Hy Royale and Spirit of Shard in the Sky Racing Claiming Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Fears were held for his future when he broke down in May of last year. But he has responded superbly to stem-cell treatment and has raced keenly in his latest campaign, winning three times and finishing second three times from 11 starts.

Forrestdale trainer Greg Bond, who races the New Zealand-bred five-year-old in partnership with Kevin, Rob and John Gartrell, Craig Hampson, Andrew Foster and Brad Collett, said that Pablito had damaged a suspensory ligament early last year.

“Fortunately it was only a minor suspensory tear and he has come back well after the stem-cell treatment,” Bond said. “We gave him a good rehab and claiming company is probably his sort of go at the moment.

“He’s an M5-class pacer now and he’s probably almost on his mark. But we feel that he could still be one of the minor players at the Christmas carnival. He’s a horse who can stick and do well in a 2500m mobile.”

Pablito, a 9/2 chance, started from the outside of the back line on Friday night and Brown drove him vigorously early to get to a forward position.

Pablito moved to the breeze 500m after the start of the 2130m event and enjoyed racing on the outside of the pacemaker Heeza Hudson before Brown sent him to the front 380m from home. He sprinted the final 800m in 57.5sec. and won in fine style from Hy Royale, who finished boldly from eighth at the bell.

Brown described Pablito as “a totally different animal” when he raced in the lead or in the breeze. “He gets a bit lost when he’s back in the field, and he really does need to get into a forward position early.”

Pablito, by Courage Under Fire, won twice from five starts in New Zealand and he now has earned $121,285 from his 13 wins and 14 placings from 39 starts.

 IT’S EDNA ANNE AGAIN AT A LONG PRICE

The combination of Pinjarra trainer Hayden Reeves, Waroona driver Nigel Johns and smart filly Edna Anne is making a habit of winning at long prices.

Edna Anne was sent out at 29/1 for the Ross North Homes Pace for three-year-old fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night  before she produced a typical whirlwind finishing burst to snatch victory from 6/4 favourite Kamwood Girl and Lincoln Beach Girl (4/1).

Johns adopted similar patient tactics when Edna Anne thundered home from the rear and won the $100,000 State Sires Series final last month when she was a rank outsider at 122/1.

Edna Anne started from the outside barrier on Friday night and Johns was content to allow her to drop out to a conspicuous last. The filly was still 12th and last with 700m to travel before she sprinted powerfully and went six wide on the home turn before getting up to score by a head.

Our Royal Honey led for the first 400m and then Lincoln Beach Girl led for the next 250m before Callan Suvaljko sent Pole Dancer to the front.

Kamwood Girl, three wide early, surged forward to race on the outside of Pole Dancer before she took the lead 400m from home. Key Question, who had covered a lot of extra ground, loomed as a danger when she moved to second 350m from the finish. She fought on grandly to be a close fourth.

Edna Anne, by Northern Luck, is the eighth winner out of Anne of Avonlea, who earned $50,904 from her five wins from 12 starts. Edna Anne now has earned $90,877 from her seven wins and four placings from 31 starts and could well emulate the deeds of her half-brother The Die Is Cast, who won 26 times from 193 starts for earnings of $228,250.

 SKYE AND GRED BOND HAVE A BARGAIN IN ARTORIUS

Forrestdale trainers Skye and Greg Bond have no regrets that they accepted the advice of a contact to buy Victorian pacer Artorius five months ago.

After getting leading Victorian horseman John Caldow to check out the four-year-old, the Bonds outlaid $15,000 to buy the son of former champion pacer Our Sir Vancelot.

Now in Perth and being prepared by Skye Bond, Artorius is proving to be a bargain buy.

Driven skillfully by Colin Brown, Artorius, second favourite at 5/2, unwound an explosive finishing burst to charge home from the rear and win the Channel 9 Pace from 82/1 outsider Tuff Jag and the pacemaker and 23/1 chance Loudspeaker at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

It was the gelding’s fifth win from 12 starts for the Bonds and the $39,015 won by the new owners has improved his record to 56 starts for 16 wins, 16 placings and stakes of $79,915.

“He’s done a really good job for us,” said Greg Bond. “He was offered to us and I rang John Caldow and John had a look at him for me. He thought that he was being offered for a pretty reasonable price.

“So we bought him and I asked John to race him for us in Melbourne, telling him that if he was no good that I wouldn’t bring him home. He won at his first three starts for John, starting off by winning a race at Geelong by a fair way (14m).”

Then Artorius scored a convincing win in a heat of the Eastern Challenge (coming home over the final 800m in 57.6sec.) at Cranbourne and then winning the $20,000 penalty-free final at Warragul.

After that Artorius finished third behind Our White Knight in a heat of the Vic Bred series for four-year-olds at Geelong and had no luck in a semi-final when a horse fell and caused him severe interference. “He was going to run sixth, but the interference resulted in him finishing eighth behind Living On Fire and Bonavista Bay,” Bond said.

Artorius had his next start at Ballarat. “John said that he was going to win, but a horse took his wheel out about the 500m,” Bond said. “He had a flat tyre but was still going to win. But then the tube came off and wrapped around the shaft. He finished sixth.

“He then came to WA and took a little while to settle in and was a little bit tied up with our sand work. So it took him a couple of runs to get to his top. Every run has been good and now he’s really hitting his straps.”

Artorius gave Brown the first leg of a treble. His second winner was Pablito and he completed the treble by winning the Veolia Environmental Services Pace with Im Light Hearted.

Im Light Hearted, a five-year-old by Courage Under Fire and trained by Jarrad Humphries, was a 13/2 chance who sat behind the pacemaker Gross Misconduct (11/8) before getting clear in the closing stages to rattle home and win by 1m from Magiclittlepartner, who flew home from last at the bell.

Im Light Hearted now has earned $94,159 from 11 wins and 17 placings from 57 starts.

 HALL’S TREBLE GIVES HIM AN ADVANTAGE OF SIX

Gary Hall jun. produced a wonderful drive to land Im Grant Lea the winner of the Find Thirty Every Day Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

This completed a treble after wins earlier in the program with Laser Edge and Truckers Ruffnut. And the three winners improved Hall’s prospects of winning the award as the leading metropolitan reinsman for the 2009-10 season.

Hall now has 132 city winners and is six in front of Chris Lewis, who had nine drives at the meeting and failed to land a winner.

Lewis won an early battle for supremacy against Hall in the Find Thirty Every Day Pace when he was able to get Jordangarry to the lead over Im Grant Lea in a spirited bid for the front. The stewards reprimanded Lewis for allowing Jordangarry to shift in and inconvenience Im Grant Lea in the early stages.

Jordangarry set the pace and Hall took the sit behind the pacemaker Im Grant Lea, with last-start winner Haagen Das moving alongside the leader with 1450m to travel.

Im Grant Lea appeared unlikely to obtain a clear passage in the last lap, with Haagen Das putting pressure on the leader and holding Im Grant Lea in a pocket. Hall, realising his predicament, restrained Im Grant Lea in the back straight and dropped back more than a length behind Jordangarry.

Then he was able to ease Im Grant Lea off the pegs when Bakerandthefatman began to wilt in the one-out, one-back position. Im Grant Lea then assumed the one-out, one-back position behind Haagen Das before Hall switched Im Grant Lea three wide on the home turn.

Im Grant Lea finished strongly and got to the front in the closing stages to win by 2m from Haagen Das, with Jordangarry a neck away in third place.

Im Grant Lea, by Spirit of Zeus, now has earned $78,766 from his ten wins and ten placings from 51 starts. He has had 11 WA starts for five wins and earnings of $36,092.

Im Grant Lea is a full-brother of eight-year-old Spirit of Shard, who was driven by Hall into third place behind Pablito in the Sky Racing Claiming Pace earlier in the night.

Hall also drove with great purpose to win The West Australian Pace with Laser Edge (4/1), who beat the 6/4 on favourite Bombora Lombo, driven by Lewis.

Bombora Lombo started from the front line in the 2503m stand, but galloped badly and lost about eight lengths. Laser Edge began speedily from 10m and Hall dashed the five-year-old forward to take up the running after 300m.

Laser Edge relished his role of pacemaker and sprinted the final 800m in 58.6sec. to win by just over two lengths from Bombora Lombo, who came from the rear with a three-wide move 1200m from home.

 XUPAN THREE MAKES IT FOUR OUT OF FIVE

Former New South Wales pacer Xupan Three maintained his sparkling form and notched his fourth win from his past five starts when he dashed to the lead 550m after the start, set a brisk pace and held on to beat 85/1 outsider Open Class in the 2130m Alltools Pathway Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Raced by John and Debbie Padberg and trained by Debbie at Wanneroo, the Mach Three gelding was second favourite at 4/1 and was driven with great confidence by Shannon Suvaljko.

Xupan Three, who failed to win a race in New Zealand, won twice at Bankstown and three times at Penrith in NSW before entering the Padberg stables four months ago. He has impressed with four wins and two placings from his first nine WA starts.

Five-year-old Xupan Three is now a C6-class pacer and he should win a metropolitan-class maiden event within the next couple of weeks.

Most punters considered he would have to play second fiddle to the highly-promising New Zealand-bred four-year-old Ohoka du Nord on Friday night. Ohoka du Nord, favourite at 2/1 on, disappointed in finishing tenth. He started from the outside barrier and was trapped four wide for the first 400m before moving into the breeze.

However, Ohoka du Nord was a beaten horse a long way from the finish and dropped back to beat only one runner home.

 AS WICKED AS ENDS LOSING SEQUENCE OF 28

Speedy New Zealand-bred six-year-old As Wicked As broke through for his first win for two years when Chris Brew drove him to a dashing all-the-way victory over Lord Roddick in the 1730m Schweppes Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

His runaway 13m victory at 5/1 ended a losing sequence of 28 and gave him his first success since he finished from the rear to win a 2569m event at Bunbury’s Donaldson Park on August 5, 2008.

Trained at Pinjarra by Kevin Strahan, As Wicked As gave his rivals no chance when he set a blistering early pace and he rated 1.57 in winning his metropolitan maiden.

As Wicked As, by Badlands Hanover, won once from seven starts in New Zealand and now has had 40 starts in WA for six wins and eight placings.

His victory saw yet another odds-on fancy fail to salute. Alby Albert, a brilliant winner, rating 1.57.1 over 1730m at his WA debut six nights earlier, was sent out favourite at 5/4 on for trainer Ross Olivieri and reinsman Chris Lewis.

Alby Albert started from the No. 8 barrier and settled in last position before Lewis started a three-wide move approaching the bell. But Alby Albert was pushed four wide at the winning post with a lap to travel before battling on gamely to finish a well-beaten fourth.