Mighty Ronaldo was a second thought
When talented Boyanup trainer-reinsman Justin Prentice went to the 2019 APG yearling sale in Perth he had no intention of purchasing lot 566, a colt by Alta Christiano out of the New Zealand-bred mare Millwoods Delight.
He and stable client John Lohman had condensed their thoughts to about six youngsters.
“Funnily enough, we didn’t have him pencilled in in a batch of about a half-dozen we had highlighted, said Prentice. “But once I saw this Alta Christiano colt at the sales I took a liking to him. I saw him in the box and Trevor Lindsay (breeder) got him out and I really liked him.
“At the time I was training an Alta Christiano filly Suing You, and I liked her.” Even though lot 566 was out of Millwoods Delight, who had not been successful at stud, Prentice was guided by his instincts and thought, just on type, this colt was worth serious consideration.
He bought the colt for $22,000 and his judgment has been thoroughly justified. The colt, named Mighty Ronaldo, boosted his earnings to $104,069 (not including Westbred bonuses) when he stormed home from the rear to score a dashing victory in the group 1 Choices Flooring Golden Slipper at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Prentice, who drove a patient and well-judged race to guide Mighty Ronaldo, an outsider at $31.20, to victory by one and a half lengths over Give Us A Wave, is one of about 20 part-owners, including Lohman, Glen Mortimer, Gavin Thorn, Ross Fitzgerald, Bruce Jones, Angelo Vallis, Tony Florio, Rod Brennan’s Family Racing Syndicate and Keith Woolfenden’s Hillbillies Bowling Syndicate.
Friday night’s stirring victory was some consolation for the owners who had the disappointment of watching their gelding Major Martini thunder home from ninth on the home to finish a head second to Jaspervellabeach in last year’s Golden Slipper.
Millwoods Delight was part-owned by leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond when she won five times from 44 starts in Western Australia, and the Bonds surely had nostalgic thoughts when Mighty Ronaldo defeated their smart colt Give Us A Wave, a $10 chance who raced three wide before bursting to the front after 550m and then setting a brisk pace.
Prentice decided to drive Mighty Ronaldo only after champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr opted to handle the Kat Warwick-trained colt Machnificent, a $9.50 chance who was handily drawn at barrier two on the back line, with Mighty Ronaldo drawn poorly on the outside ( No. 9) on the front line.
“When the draw came out I thought our chances were stuffed,” Prentice said. “I snagged early and we lobbed almost last. When Ryan (Warwick) came off the fence (with the $2.20 favourite Jett Star 200m after the start) there was a massive gap on the fence and I thought that four fence would be a good spot.
“So, I went four fence, but when Dylan (Egerton-Green) took the lead (with Give Us A Wave) I was five fence. However, the speed was so genuine I thought that I was in the right position as long as I could get out.
“There was a bit of traffic down the back, but I was able to get off the pegs.” Mighty Ronaldo was still well back in ninth position with 450m to travel, with Give Us A Wave still racing strongly in the lead. Mighty Ronaldo went five wide on the home turn and burst to the front 50m from the post.
In an up-tempo affair, the four quarters of the final mile were covered in 28.8sec., 28.8sec., 28.4sec. and 29.8sec., with Mighty Ronaldo rating 1.55.6 over the 2130m to set a race record, with the previous best being Mitch Maguire’s 1.55.9 in 2016.
Prentice, who celebrated his 32ND birthday on Sunday, said that Mighty Ronaldo would be sent out for a break and that the colt’s main mission next season would be the rich WA Derby next April.
“I’m now going on holidays and will be in Exmouth for the next two weeks,” he said. “I’m looking forward to some warmer weather and, definitely, there will be some fishing involved.”
The Bond camp had little luck with Jett Star in the Golden Slipper, with the colt looking a strong prospect with 900m to travel before he was inconvenienced and forced four wide when Talks Up A Storm broke into a bad gallop, out three wide, when surging forward into third place in the home straight with a lap to travel. Jett Star fought on to finish sixth.
Black Jack Baby, the only filly in the event and second fancy at $3.50, led for the first 550m before trailing the pacemaker Give Us A Wave and wilting in the final circuit to finish a distant eleventh.
Machnificent, who started a three-wide move after a lap and then worked hard in the breeze, was an excellent fourth, with Robbie Rocket ($41) running on from seventh at the bell to be third.
American trip is on hold
The coronavirus pandemic has prevented a planned American career for the New Zealand-bred pacer Son Of A Tiger, who will be set for a $30,000 Four And Five-Year-Old feature event in three weeks after scoring an impressive all-the-way victory in the 2130m Choices Flooring Myaree Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Prominent owner and horse dealer Frank Ranaldi purchased Son Of A Tiger for $40,000 three months ago with the firm intention of on-selling him to American interests.
“The plan was to send him to America,” said Byford trainer-reinsman Kyle Harper. “But with the borders shut down because of the Covid, Frank asked me if I would take the horse and play around with him and see what I thought.
“I gave Son Of A Tiger a couple of trials and I really liked him and suggested that we give him a race start.” So, the gelding returned to racing after a three-month absence when he started off 40 metres in a 2503m event last Friday week in which he caught the eye by finishing solidly from last approaching the bell to be fifth behind Rebel With A Grin.
“Frank said that if I thought the horse was good enough to stay here and earn some good money, that would be the way to go. But if he wasn’t up to scratch on too hard a mark, he would sell him off to the United States,” Harper explained.
“The way he’s going at the moment I’m inclined to tell Frank to hold off for a bit, and now I’m setting him for that feature event for four and five-year-olds.
“After his good first-up run in the stand I was quietly confident tonight, but I still had a lot of respect for Stroke Of Luck. The slow lead time (39.5sec.) and slow first quarter (32.1sec.) were essential after running a 28sec. quarter coming into the bell.
“Even after the early soft sectionals I thought that there are not too many horses who can run 28sec. into the bell and keep going with 28.3sec. and 28sec. quarters. My horse did and so did Ross Olivieri’s horse Stroke Of Luck.”
Son Of A Tiger, favourite at $2.30, set the pace from barrier two and fought on grandly to defeat $2.35 chance Stroke Of Luck by a half neck at a 1.57.8 rate. Stroke Of Luck, who started from the back line, moved to the breeze after a lap and looks set for a profitable career in Western Australia.
Son Of A Tiger’s first two runs for Ranaldi have netted him $10,075. The gelding, a son of American Ideal, had been a wonderful performer for owner Tim Blee and trainer Matt Scott, having 33 starts for them for eight wins (including the Northam Cup in February this year) and six placings.
Ranaldi and Harper have enjoyed tremendous success with Bettors Fire, combining for 29 wins with the speedy and powerful pacer who, at 11 years of age, is still performing wonderfully well in America where he has won 17 races to take his earnings to $1,038,177.
Reed’s purple patch
Stephen Reed, a full-time mechanical engineer with Alcoa in Bunbury and Pinjarra, continues to enjoy his involvement in harness racing and is on the crest of a wave, with his past nine starters giving him nine wins.
However, he quickly points out that 22-year-old Aimee-Lee Wood deserves great credit for her work with his three pacers, Lord Rosco, Bletchley Park and Pocket The Cash, who are owned by Albert Walmsley.
Dylan Egerton-Green drove Lord Rosco, the $2.30 favourite, to a commanding all-the-way win in the 1730m Choices Flooring Busselton Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night and at Bunbury’s Donaldson Park on Saturday night Wood was successful in a 2569m event with the three-year-old Pocket The Cash, who settled last after being restrained from the outside barrier and then moved to the breeze after about 650m before getting to the front 250m from the post.
“I have only Lord Rosco, Bletchley Park and Pocket The Cash in work,” Reed said. “I don’t work the horses; Aimee does. I haven’t worked a horse for a year. She rides them and I just get the job of bringing them to the trots and feeding them at night. I get the glory for winning races, but Aimee should take the credit for doing all the hard work.
“Aimee does the work on Lord Rosco; she gets along very well with him and she knows the horse better than anyone. She is still learning the craft a bit but does a really good job.”
Lord Rosco had raced only five times at Gloucester Park before Friday night --- for two seconds, a fourth, an eighth and a tenth placing. But his first victory on the track was never really in any doubt once Egerton-Green sent him straight to the front at the start. He coasted home to win at a 1.56 rate by almost a length from Art Tutor, who raced in the breeze for most of the way.
Reed said that Lord Rosco’s outstanding form (four wins from his past four starts and seven from his past eight outings) could be attributed to some gear changes.
“I’d say plenty of gear changes for a start, to help him keep in his gear, and probably a change in training has helped him,” he said. “And probably a change in training, keeping him off the hard tracks by not hoppling him much. He just does his jog work at home on the sand and he goes to the beach occasionally.
“He doesn’t overrace; he’s a pretty relaxed horse who conserves his energy.”
Courage Tells is a marvel
Old age is not diminishing the competitive spirit of Courage Tells, who is proving a remarkable moneyspinner.
The New Zealand-bred 12-year-old celebrated his 262ND start by finishing strongly to win the 2536m Choices Flooring Northam Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
His victory over the fast-finishing Euphoric Moment took his record to 38 wins and 62 placings for stakes of $429,008.
After two wins from three starts as a two-year-old in New Zealand, a second from one appearance in Tasmania (in Launceston) in March 2010, seven wins and six placings from 23 starts in New South Wales and eight wins and 13 placings from 34 Victorian starts, Courage Tells has raced in Western Australia 201 times for 21 wins and 42 placings.
He won 11 races for trainer Colin Joss in WA before Joss took a break from horses in late 2016 and sold him for a reported bargain price of $12,000. And the old gelding’s new owners Greg and Skye Bond have managed him wonderfully well during his 126-start career for them which has produced ten wins, 11 seconds and 14 thirds for $198,497 in prizemoney.
Courage Tells is also a favourite with the staff at the Bond training establishment at Forrestdale, who share in the spoils of his successes. One of the highlights with the Bonds was when Ryan Warwick drove him to victory at tote odds of $114.50 at Gloucester Park in December 2017. For Joss, one of his wins was at $66.80 when Nathan Turvey was in the sulky for a half-head win in February 2016.
By Courage Under Fire, Courage Tells is the second foal out of Tellalie, who won four races and $28,450 from 37 starts in New Zealand. Full-brothers of Courage Tells in We Tellthetruth and Tella have both raced in WA, with the former managing one win from 47 starts and the latter six wins from 87 WA starts.
Wallrodt breaks the drought
Boyanup horseman Cody Wallrodt landed his first metropolitan-class winner for 13 months when he drove the Justin Prentice-trained gelding The Stars Above to an all-the-way victory in the Choices Flooring Midland Pace for three-year-olds at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The 26-year-old Wallrodt, a full-time assistant at the Prentice stable, drives only sparingly in the city and his previous Gloucester Park metro win was when Adda Tarantella led and defeated Georgie Mae in the Westbred Classic consolation for three-year-old fillies on June 21 last year.
The Stars Above, a $9.80 chance (but only $5.50 on the fixed market), led from the No. 1 barrier and was able to dawdle through the lead time in a very slow 40.9sec. and the first quarter of the final mile in an ambling 31.8sec. He sprinted over the final quarters in 28.1sec. and 27.5sec. and held on to beat the fast-finishing $2.20 favourite Alta Blues by a neck at a 1.59.7 rate over 2130m.
“I thought that to get away with what we could in the early stages should leave The Stars Above with the speed at the finish to hold them off,” he said. “We got it a lot easier than I thought we could. I thought we had it sewn up at the top of the straight. But when Alta Blues came late it was a bit scary.”
The Stars Above, owned and bred at Bob Fowler’s Allwood Stud Farm, now has had 25 starts for five wins, 12 placings and $41,779 in prizemoney. The gelding is by Follow The Stars and is the last of the progeny of the Albert Albert mare Miss Jeffries.
The Stars Above completed a successful night for breeder-owner Fowler, who was successful at the meeting at Wagin with two three-year-old fillies by Follow The Stars in Star In Art and Star Of The Class as well as with four-year-old Rock N Roll Heaven gelding The Righteous, with that trio being prepared by Byford trainer Peter Anderson.
Another Follow The Stars three-year-old filly, Our Star Carly, trained and driven by Dean Miller, was also successful at the Wagin meeting.
It’s No. 49 for Chicago Bull
A change of tactics by champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr paved the way for Chicago Bull’s dashing victory in the 2130m Choices Flooring Joondalup Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Hall had restrained Chicago Bull from wide barriers in small fields at the seven-year-old’s three previous starts which resulted in a win over Ocean Ridge and seconds to that pacer and to Vultan Tin.
On Friday night Hall decided to roll the dice from the outside barrier, No. 7, and urged the star pacer forward when the mobile barrier released the field.
“Chicago Bull has been flopping out of the gate in recent starts and I decided to go forward in a bid to lead,” Hall said. “Vultan Tin was holding him out in the early stages before we were able to get to the front (after about 220m). It was a soft win, really.”
Chicago Bull, favourite at $1.70, beat Im Soxy (who trailed the pacemaker) and Chiaroscuro, who ran on from fifth at the bell, rating 1.56.3, with final quarters of 27.4 and 27.1sec. This was the champion pacer’s 49TH win from 77 starts and boosted his earnings to $1,832,036.
Top-flight pacer Handsandwheels put in a solid effort at his first appearance after a spell. He was restrained at the start from barrier five and raced in sixth position before finishing solidly into fifth place.
One Bid Buys surprises
Six-year-old One Bid Buys, the only mare in the field, surprised when she started at $27.60 and ended a losing sequence of 16, stretching over 12 months, by beating the pacemaker Tokyo Joe ($4) and Mr Sundon ($2.10) in the 2503m Choices Flooring Osborne Park Trot at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Trained at Waroona by Bob Mellsop and driven by Michael Grantham, One Bid Buys enjoyed a perfect passage behind Tokyo Joe, who was untroubled to get to an early lead after Lifes Delight and Dark Secret galloped and the 40m backmarker Mr Sundon broke badly after 50m and settled down almost 100 metres from the pacemaker.
Grantham bided his time with One Bid Buys before he urged the mare to the front with 100m to travel. Mr Sundon, having his first start for three and a half months, gave a remarkable performance to make up so much lost ground to finish third.
One Bid Buys raced 20 times in New Zealand for three wins and nine placings and seven times in Victoria for two wins and one placing before she was purchased by Kevin and Annette Charles. Her 49 WA starts under the care of Mellsop have resulted in seven wins and 18 placings. This was her first success at Gloucester Park at her 14TH appearance at the track.
“Manners is the secret for a successful trotter,” said Mellsop, who has just retired the outstanding ten-year-old square gaiter Lord Liam after he had raced 104 times for 32 wins, 31 seconds and nine thirds for stakes of $281,550. For Mellsop, Lord Liam had 47 starts in WA for 19 wins, 16 seconds, five thirds and four fourths.
While They Pray is too fast
Up-and-coming four-year-old While They Pray, described by star reinsman Gary Hall jnr as a handful and a nightmare, maintained his sparkling form for Pinjarra trainer Michael George when he proved too speedy for his rivals in the 2130m Vale Lyn Norman pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
While They Pray, second fancy at $4.80, began with his usual alacrity from barrier six and challenged the polemarker Cyclone Banner, the $1.45 favourite, in the early stages before charging to the front after about 450 metres.
He then dictated terms in front and won by almost a length from Cyclone Banner, with Arma Indie ($31) finishing solidly to be third. The winner sped over the final 800m in 55.8sec. and rated 1.54.7. He has now had 28 starts for George for 13 wins, seven placings and $94,612 in stakes.
“He went super,” said Hall. “Up to the gate, he’s a nightmare, and sometimes in running he can pull. But tonight, he was pretty good. But I guess not many pull when you run a 35.6sec. lead time. He actually let me back him off. Manners are a big thing when you get up in grade. If he happened to draw to lead in a Free-For-All at this time of the year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win.”
While They Pray gave Hall the second leg of a driving treble. Earlier, he had scored an all-the-way win with $1.40 favourite Mister Bushido in the 2536m Choices Flooring Bunbury Pace, and he completed the treble with Chicago Bull’s victory later in the program.
Mister Bushido, prepared by Gary Hall snr, has raced 39 times in WA for seven wins and nine placings for a career record of 60 starts for 11 wins, 14 placings and stakes of $132,340.
Century for de Campo
Outstanding reinsman Aiden de Campo brought up his one hundredth winner for the 2019-20 season when he set the pace and scored an effortless win with Mandy Joan in the 2130m Choices Flooring Rockingham Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
For the 28-year-old Capel horseman it was also his 71ST training success for the season.
Mandy Joan, the $1.10 favourite from the prized No. 1 barrier, was not extended as the field of eight raced in Indian file for much of the journey. Mandy Joan sprinted over the final 400m in 27.3sec. and won by almost two lengths from the $5.50 second fancy My Prayer, who trailed the leader throughout.
Mandy Joan, a four-year-old mare by Art Major bred and owned by Steve Johnson, has earned $110,349 from nine wins and nine placings from 34 starts.
