Big plans for Pinny Tiger
Brilliant six-year-old Pinny Tiger resumed racing in a blaze of glory when he romped to victory in the $31,000 Vale Graham McNeice Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night, and part-owner and trainer Michael Brennan has ambitious plans for the Victorian-bred gelding.
At the forefront of his upcoming program are the $450,000 WA Pacing Cup on November 8 and the Interdominion Championship series in New South Wales in late November and early December.
But before those assignments will be starts in the $100,000 James Brennan Memorial on October 11 and the $100,000 J. P. Stratton Cup on October 25.
“The main focus is the Pacing Cup,” said Brennan after Chris Voak had driven Pinny Tiger, the $1.70 favourite, to an impressive all-the-way win in the 1730m Free-For-All on Friday night when the gelding was making his first appearance since leading and winning the 2662m Narrogin Cup on May 11, 15 nights after finishing third behind Catch A Wave in the 2936m Fremantle Cup at Gloucester Park.
“The first set of heats for the Inters will be run at Newcastle a fortnight after the Pacing Cup, and Pinny Tiger is well suited to racing in New South Wales.”
Pinny Tiger had a taste of NSW racing when Brennan ran him in the Newcastle Mile in February 2023 when he finished fourth behind Mach Dan, and then in two group 2 events at Menangle in the following couple of weeks.
Pinny Tiger revealed his normal explosive gate speed on Friday night when he burst straight to the front from out wide at barrier seven, and he was not extended in coasting to victory by 4m over the $2.80 second fancy Talks Up A Storm, rating a smart 1.53.6 after final 400m sections of 28.3sec. and 27.1sec.
“It was a pretty soft win,” said Voak. “The sectional times were bread and butter for him. He’s not just a brilliant frontrunner, but he is also a very good sit-sprinter.”
Brennan said that Pinny Tiger had had a faultless preparation leading into Friday night’s race. “He always does well when spelling at (part-owner) Kim Tuckey’s Pinjarra property.”
Surgery aids Atlantic Gem
Early this year Atlantic Gem was disappointing trainer Ryan Bell for under-performing in her races. It was then discovered that the filly was suffering from a trapped epiglottis which badly affected her breathing.
“She was still running quite well but we thought she wasn’t quite putting in a hundred per cent,” explained Bell. “So, she had a throat operation which has been a success.”
Atlantic Gem began from the inside of the back line and was a $19.20 chance in the $50,000 group 3 Daintys Daughter Classic over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
She trailed the pacemaker Soho Honey Rider ($10) and was hopelessly blocked for a run approaching the home turn before the breeze horse Xceptional Arma ($13) began to fade and enabled Kyle Symington to ease Atlantic Gem off the pegs and into the clear.
Atlantic Gem sprinted fast to overtake Soho Honey Rider and beat that filly by a length, with $51 chance Sugar Delight running on strongly from seventh at the bell to finish third.
Atlantic Gem, who rated 1.56.4, will now contest the $150,000 WA Oaks next Friday week as one of the main fancies after being only 15TH in the rankings for the group 1 classic before her win on Friday night.
“I expect her to be suited over the longer distance (2536m) in the Oaks,” said Bell. “She has a bit of grit about her. She has had a few issues along the way. She had joint troubles early on in her career and then required a throat operation at the beginning of the year.”
Atlantic Gem is by American sire Downbytheseaside and is the second foal out of Bettors Gem, who had 40 starts for 11 wins, 13 placings and $103,276. Bettors Gem’s first foal Swingband has earned $388,149 from 13 wins and ten placings from 33 starts. Bettors Gem is a half-sister to smart three-year-old Menemsha, who as a two-year-old last year won the group 1 Westbred Classic and the group 2 Pearl Classic.
Atlantic Gem, purchased for $65,000 at the 2022 APG Perth yearling sale, has had eight starts for three wins, two placings and stakes of $49,701.
Water Lou, who also cost $65,000 as a yearling, was the $1.70 favourite on Friday night when she was restrained at the start from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line.
Water Lou settled down in tenth position and raced at the rear until Shannon Suvaljko sent her forward with a three-wide burst with a thousand metres to travel. She raced wide in the final circuit and fought on to finish fifth.
Brown is happy to oblige
Maddison Brown was more than happy to oblige when trainer Jocelyn Young asked her to drive Castella Dellacqua in the $27,000 SEFS, You Name It, We Fund It Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Young chose to drive stablemate Peaceful in preference to Castella Dellacqua, whom she had driven to an easy victory the previous Friday night.
Peaceful was a well-supported $2.60 favourite from barrier No. 5, while Castella Dellacqua was the fourth fancy at $8.40 as the sole runner on the back line.
Nase Vira ($2.90) set the early pace from the No. 1 barrier before surrendering the lead after 650m to Peaceful, who raced four wide early and then challenged Nase Vira hard for the lead, resulting in a fast lead time of 35.4sec.
Peaceful got to the front after 650m and set a fast pace, with the final three quarters whizzing by in 28.5sec., 28.5sec. and 28.6sec.
With the breeze runner Sister Cherie wilting, Brown was able to ease Castella Dellacqua off the pegs 250m from home, and the mare went three wide approaching the home turn before hitting the front 90m from the post and winning by almost two lengths from Peaceful, rating 1.55 over 2130m.
This was the Victorian-bred Castella Dellacqua’s sixth win from 18 starts in Western Australia and took her career record to 28 starts for seven wins, nine placings and $101,949.
“Castella Dellacqua is a nice mare, and she had a soft run, while Peaceful didn’t perform as well as we had hoped,” said Young. “But I’m not particularly disappointed, considering the early burn.”
My Ultimate Baxter too good
The much-travelled New Zealand-bred gelding My Ultimate Baxter revealed excellent toughness when he survived considerable mid-race pressure before outclassing the opposition in the 2130m Vale Terry Radley Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The Debra Lewis-trained five-year-old was a well-supported $2.50 favourite who began from the No. 2 barrier and took the lead after 100m and was able to coast through the lead time in 38.2sec. and the opening quarter in 30.1sec. before the hard-pulling $2.90 second fancy Waratah Lou loomed alongside him after a lap.
This resulted in a lift in tempo, with My Ultimate Baxter recording middle quarters of 29sec. and 28.4sec. Waratah Lou began to wilt over the final 400m but battled on to finish second, almost five lengths behind My Ultimate Baxter, who sprinted home powerfully and rated 1.56.3 after a final 400m of 28.3sec.
“From barrier two it looked as though we could lead,” said champion reinsman Chris Lewis. “But I was hoping to be able to dictate a bit more than that. However, that probably was My Ultimate Baxter’s best run in front since coming across (from Sydney early last year).”
My Ultimate Baxter, the winner of the group 2 $50,000 Simpson Memorial for three-year-olds over 1609m at Menangle in January 2022, won five races in Queensland and four in New South Wales before crossing the Nullarbor by float. His 27 starts in WA have produced seven wins and he has a career record of 47 starts for 16 wins, six placings and $157,809. He looks set to win many more times in WA.
Hall changes his mind
It pays for drivers to have the ability to make split-second decisions in races. And it was this skill that helped champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr to win the Christmas Parties At Gloucester Park Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night with the $1.40 favourite Atlas The Titan.
“I thought we’d go forward off the gate (from barrier seven) and drive him tough and probably bully his way to the front, or at least to the breeze,” said Hall.
“But I changed my mind quickly (when several runners drawn inside of Atlas The Titan began speedily) and restrained.”
Atlas The Titan settled down in tenth position after Brewery Lane, Here Comes Sharkie, Our Major Jack and Gold Horseshoe had all made bids for the early lead, with $11 chance Gold Horseshoe finally getting to the front after about 700m.
“I was then a long way out of my ground, trusting that they would come back to me at some stage,” said Hall. After a 28.9sec. opening quarter the pace slackened with a 30.7sec. second section which prompted Hall to send Atlas The Titan forward with a three-wide burst approaching the bell.
Henwood Bay ($15) had charged to the front 1400m from home, and he held a two-length lead with 400m to travel. However, Atlas The Titan proved too strong, and he raced to the front 100m from the post and won by just over a length from Henwood Bay, with $8 chance Cloud Nine, ninth at the bell, finishing fast into third place.
Atlas The Titan, trained by Gary Hall snr, is an inexperienced three-year-old who went into Friday night’s event with a record of three wins and two placings from 12 starts --- and being opposed by eleven much older and more experienced rivals with a combined tally of 1169 races, 127 wins and 285 placings.
Atlas The Titan is by former star pacer Lazarus and is the fourth foal out of unraced Art Major mare Code Cracker.
“The race wasn’t run how I expected but they ran it to suit him, and it was easy in the end,” said Hall jnr.
Ideal Tomado loves to lead
Seven-year-old Ideal Tomado managed just one win from 29 starts in New Zealand before arriving in Western Australia 24 months ago --- and he has proved an excellent moneyspinner for Mardella trainer Michael Young and a large band of owners.
Ideal Tomado’s solitary success in New Zealand came in a minor 2200m event at Cambridge in July 2021 when he began from the inside of the back line and trailed the pacemaker before finishing solidly along the sprint lane to win from Matai Louis.
In WA he has developed into a specialist frontrunner, setting the pace in ten of his eleven victories from 38 starts, and he took his career record to 67 starts for twelve wins, 18 placings and $109,965 when Gary Hall jnr drove him to an all-the-way victory in the 2536m Allwood Stud Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Ideal Tomado was the $2 favourite from barrier three and he burst straight to the front, with Hall rating him perfectly and winning by just over a half-length from the $6.50 chance Rock Me Over, rating a modest 2min. after a smart final 400m of 28.6sec.
A winning combination
Outstanding young reinsman Kyle Symington, just back in Australia two weeks earlier after a three-month American holiday, celebrated his return to harness racing action at Gloucester Park on Friday night by landing outsider Hillview Bondi a thrilling last-stride winner in the 2130m TABtouch Share My Bet Pace.
Hillview Bondi, trained by Ryan Bell, was a $30.40 outsider when he broke a ten-month drought with his victory in a dramatic four-way blanket photo finish which revealed he had won by a head from dead-heaters Regal Cheval ($10) and Chivalry ($2.70), with the $2.45 favourite and pacemaker Loucid Dreams a head away in fifth place.
The 22-year-old Symington has enjoyed a highly successful association with the six-year-old Hillview Bondi, having driven him at 30 of his 76 starts for 12 wins, five seconds and one third placing.
Hillview Bondi had been unplaced at his previous nine starts, and Friday night’s win took his career earnings to $156,963 from 16 wins and 19 placings.
“He has been a ripper of a horse, and Kyle has an impeccable record with him,” said Bell. “His past three track runs have been the best of his career, and tonight was about the first time he has been sat-up.”
Symington did not bustle Hillview Bondi in the early stages, and he quickly angled him across to race three back on the pegs in fifth position while Loucid Dreams was holding the challenging Chivalry at bay and Stuart McDonald got Regal Cheval into the prime one-out, one-back position.
Hillview Bondi got off the pegs 450m from home and he was sixth 100m from the post before charging home, out four wide, to snatch victory.
McDonald lodged a protest against Chivalry, alleging interference in the closing stages. He said that Chivalry had shifted out and that contact was made between the stays of the two sulkies. Harper countered by saying that he had held his line from the home turn and up the straight.
The stewards dismissed the protest, with chairman Brad Lewis saying that there had been only a very slight impediment to Regal Cheval.
Mister Smartee’s terrific win
Star reinsman Gary Hall jnr declared that Mister Smartee was simply terrific in scoring a brilliant first-up win in the Kersley Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The lightly-raced New Zealand-bred four-year-old was the $1.70 favourite at his first appearance for 20 weeks, and he overcame the disadvantage of starting from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line in the 2130m event and gave a sample of his class by surging home with a three-wide burst from last with 700m to travel to get to the front at the 90m mark and win comfortably from $31 chance Star Casino.
“He won so easily and was bolting on the line,” said Hall. “They ran it to suit, but he still was awesome. He is a WA Pacing Cup hope, and we have also got the Golden Nugget to look forward to.”
Blaze Coops, a $41 outsider, set a fast pace, and the $2.65 second fancy and Mister Smartee’s talented stablemate Skylou was left working hard in the breeze. Mister Smartee settled down in last place ten lengths behind the leader.
Ryan Bell eased $8 chance Louie Dior off the pegs with 850m to travel, forcing Star Casino out three wide. And Hall was quick to follow Star Casino’s three-wide run in the final lap. Star Casino got his nose in front 110m from the post before Mister Smartee ran past him 20m later.
Mister Smartee, a gelding by Always B Miki, has won at ten of his twelve starts for stakes of $155,606.
A spell for Rock Artist
Trainer-reinsman Chris Voak has done a tremendous job with Rock Artist, who has been affected by a nasty quarter crack in his near side hoof throughout his current preparation.
The Victorian-bred four-year-old, the $1.90 favourite in the Follow @Skyracingau On Instagram Handicap at Gloucester Park on Friday night, gave punters a scare when he galloped off the front line in the 2503m standing-start event.
But Voak quickly got him down into a pacing gait and he went straight to the front in the six-horse field which immediately developed into an Indian file affair, leaving the sole backmarker and $2.35 second fancy Im The Black Flash in fourth position after $101 outsider Master Leighton had galloped at the start and settled down a distant last.
Rock Artist was untroubled to coast over the opening quarters of the final mile in 30.8sec. and 30.3sec. before he dashed home with final 400m sections of 28.2sec. and 28sec.
Hall bided his time until he sent Im The Black Flash forward 550m from home. But Shannon Suvaljko quickly eased Franco Mecca ($11) off the pegs to force Im The Black Flash to race three wide for the remainder of the race.
Im The Black Flash ran home strongly to finish an excellent second, only a half-length behind the winner.
“Rock Artist was not at his best, and he won probably just because of his handicap advantage over Im The Black Flash,” said Voak. “Rock Artist has battled a quarter crack this whole preparation, and now I’ll give him a freshen-up and get him up again in six or seven weeks’ time. That will give him the chance for his foot to settle down.”
Rock Artist has been an extremely consistent performer whose 31 starts have produced ten wins, 11 seconds and three thirds for stakes of $120,453. He raced six times in Victoria for one win and four placings, and his two appearances in Tasmania resulted in wins in Launceston before he arrived in Western Australia where his 23 starts for Voak have resulted in seven wins and ten placings.
Cyclone Jordy has super speed
Cyclone Jordy left champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr searching for superlatives after he had driven Cyclone Jordy to a runaway victory in the 2130m Vili’s Family Bakery Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“I don’t think I’ve ever run a 26.8sec. quarter on a two-year-old, particularly with the plugs still in,” Hall said after the high-priced New Zealand import, the $1.20 favourite, had beaten the $6 second fancy Como El Viento by four lengths, rating 1.57.8. Last Hard Copy ($12) was three and a half lengths farther back in third place.
“Cyclone Jordy’s work at home has been super. He has an electric turn of foot as well as having electric gate speed.”
Cyclone Jordy was produced in splendid condition by Gary Hall snr for his Australian debut and for his first start for 20 weeks. His sparkling performance was an outstanding trial for the $150,000 Golden Slipper next Friday night.
“I was planning to sit quietly in the breeze and drive him conservatively, not wanting to get in a war with Como El Viento,” said Hall jnr. “However, Cyclone Jordy felt good, coming out (from barrier four), and he got three-quarters of a length on Como El Viento (the polemarker) without asking him, so I went on with it.”
After a modest lead time of 37.4sec. Cyclone Jordy dawdled through the opening quarter of the final mile in 32.3sec. and the second 400m in an ambling 30.9sec. before he sprinted the third 400m in 28.5sec.
