Hampton Banner faces moment of truth
Evergreen veteran pacer Hampton Banner maintained his outstanding form with an effortless victory in the $50,000 Village Kid Free-For-All over 1730m at Gloucester Park on Friday night to record his fourth win from his past five starts.
Now the eight-year-old faces a stern test when he lines up in the $50,000 Lord Mayor’s Cup next Friday night. He has contested 14 Cup events in WA for just one placing, his neck second to Glenledi Chief in the 2023 Lord Mayor’s Cup.
A year earlier, Hampton Banner started from the back line and ran on solidly to finish fourth behind Minstrel in the Lord Mayor’s Cup. He made amends for his second to Magnificent Storm in the Village Kid Sprint in December 2022 by proving too speedy for his eleven rivals in Friday night’s feature sprint event.
Hampton Banner, trained by Debra Lewis and driven by Jocelyn Young, was the $2.50 favourite from the No. 4 barrier when he revealed his normal sparkling gate speed to dash past the polemarker Franco Ecuador and race to the front.
Young took no prisoners, and Hampton Banner relished his task of running the four quarters of the final mile in 28.1sec., 28.8sec., 28.3sec. and 28sec. to win by just under three lengths from $6.50 chance Otis, rating 1.52.2. Franco Ecuador fought on gamely to finish third.
“Once we were in front there wasn’t much pressure,” said Young. “We won the start reasonably comfortably and then bowled along solidly, and he was doing it well within himself. He kicked away around the turn, and I was surprised at how easily he won.”
Hampton Banner won at three of his ten New Zealand starts and he now has earned $390,999 from 19 wins and 20 placings from 96 starts. He is by champion sire Bettors Delight and is out of the Christian Cullen mare Surf And Sand, who managed one win from eleven starts --- as a three-year-old in a 2600m stand on debut at Addington on November 6, 2009.
Hampton Banner’s full-brother Cody Banner has raced 131 times for ten wins, 28 placings and $170,212, and his full-sister Scarlett Banner was retired in 2019 with earnings of $82,470 from six wins and 12 placings from 49 starts.
Jaxs Ideal stakes her claim
Promising young pacer Jaxs Ideal, unsuccessful at her first twelve race starts, ran a splendid trial for the $100,000 Sales Classic for three-year-old fillies next Friday week when she finished strongly from last at the bell to snatch victory from Reinette and Hold The Ammo in the $21,000 Vale Diane Richards Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
This was her fourth win in a row after she had been placed at five of her first twelve starts --- and she was a $19.50 chance at her first appearance against colts and geldings and was unfavourably drawn out wide at barrier seven.
“I suppose she was at that price because this was the first time she had taken on the boys and was drawn wide,” said part-owner and trainer Michael Young.
“I didn’t think she had much of a chance tonight but there was plenty of speed on in the race which made it a staying test, and that suits her because she is pretty tough.”
Young purchased Jaxs Ideal for $55,000 at the 2023 Perth APG yearling sale, and the filly now has earned $60,238 from four wins and five placings from 16 starts. Young races the filly in partnership with a group of stable clients.
Jaxs Ideal is by star stallion American Ideal and is the sixth foal out of the unraced Christian Cullen mare Jacinta Jones.
Star reinsman Gary Hall jnr said Friday night’s event didn’t look like Jaxs Ideal’s race at all, and when she settled down at the rear, he gave her very little chance of winning. “But the way the race was being run I thought we could finish in the money,” he said.
“I wanted to go first (approaching the bell), but the other two ($6 chance Reinette and $9 chance Hold The Ammo) came out in front of me, and when they cleared out down the back, I was doubtful that I could catch them.
“But I was able to cross to the rail, and those two were cutting each other’s throat, and we were able to get up and beat them.”
Reinette and Hold The Ammo were locked together for much of the final circuit and also when Hall got Jaxs Ideal to a narrow lead with about 30m to travel. Jaxs Ideal went on to win by a head from the gallant Reinette, with Hold The Ammo a metre away in third place and a couple of lengths ahead of the fourth placegetter Control The Room.
Spyglass shows his class
Up-and-coming New Zealand-bred five-year-old Spyglass gave a sample of his ability when he outclassed the opposition in the 2130m Bill and Norma Horn Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
A heavily-supported $1.60 favourite from barrier four, Spyglass enjoyed a perfect sit in the one-out and one-back position before trainer-reinsman Lindsay Harper sent him forward, with a strong three-wide burst with 750m to travel.
Chillin, the $3.30 second fancy, was setting a solid pace, and the third quarter of the final mile whizzed by in 27.6sec. before Spyglass coasted to the front 270m from home and went on to win by two lengths from Chillin, rating 1.58.2 with a final 400m section of 28.2sec.
This was Spyglass’s third appearance in WA. He led and was challenged hard before wilting to fifth behind Thenu Came Along at his WA debut, in a heat of the 1730m Nights Of Thunder on January 17. His next outing was 17 days later when he began off the 60m mark in a field of eight in a 2503m stand at Gloucester Park. He won that event by a head from Star Casino.
“Spyglass got gutted in a heat of the Nights Of Thunder when he wasn’t quite ready and I started him prematurely,” said Harper. “They ran the first quarter in the heat in 26.4sec. which was a bit harsh. So, I gave him a couple of weeks off to get over it, and because I then didn’t want to put him in a hard race, I decided to run him off the back mark in a stand.
“He rated 1.58.8 which was a good time for a stand, and he then trained on well and I was confident of winning tonight.”
Spyglass is by boom sire Sweet Lou and is the fifth foal out of Christian Cullen mare Beardsley, who raced 59 times for three wins, eight placings and $18,454. Spyglass has had 25 starts for twelve wins, six placings and $83,001 in stakes.
The final 800m of Friday night’s event was run in 55.8sec. and the Michael Young-trained Chillin performed strongly. It was an excellent rehearsal for his appearance in the annual Williams Cup next Sunday when he will be driven by Emily Suvaljko.
“Chillin was pretty unlucky to finish second,” said Young. “It’s not often a horse runs home in 55 and a half seconds and gets run down --- and not only run down but got mowed down quite easily.
“Emily will be in total charge of my horses while I’m in Brisbane as a member of the Gloucester Park Gurus slot team for the Ultimate Driver Championship at Albion Park,”
WA’s champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr will be representing the Gurus in the championship which will consist of 20 races, ten on Friday and another ten on Saturday. All Australian States will be represented, and the international competitors will be New Zealand’s Dexter Dunn (who is now driving in North America), Sweden’s Bjorn Goop and Canada’s Yannick Gringras.
“This is a great concept and I’m looking forward to it,” said Hall. “It should be great fun.”
Nickys Son gets his revenge
Veteran trotter Nickys Son made amends for his narrow defeat by a head at the hands of Patched in the group 2 $50,000 Trotters Cup two weeks earlier by finishing strongly to beat Patched by one metre in the $21,000 Village Catering Free-For-All Trot over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Patched was the $2.80 second fancy behind Hold That Gold ($2.65), while Nickys Son, driven by Chris Lewis, represented good value as the $7.50 third favourite.
From barrier six Hold That Gold made an unsuccessful bid for the early lead and was trapped out three wide before being restrained back to last in the field of eight.
Patched, who was last early, was sent forward after a lap to get to the front, past the early leader and $126 outsider Majestic Courtney, who had ambled through the lead time in 39.3sec. and the opening quarter in 31.1sec.
Aldebaran Sundown ($14) was working hard in the breeze, thus giving Nickys Son a perfect sit in the one-out, one-back position. Lewis waited until 300m from home before urging Nickys Son forward with a three-wide burst. Nickys Son proved too strong in the home straight and won by a metre from Patched, rating 2.1.4 after final 400m sections of 29.7sec. and 30.1sec.
Lewis said that Aldebaran Sundown was racing strongly in the breeze. “This enabled me to make my move a bit later than I expected to,” he said.
The WA-bred nine-year-old Nickys Son is trained by Michael Munro and now has a record of 68 starts for 14 wins, 25 placings and $134,339. He is by American sire Imperial Count and has inherited much of his ability from his dam Nicky Eileen, who earned $125,549 from her 13 wins and 32 placings from 113 starts. Nicky Eileen’s wins included eight at Gloucester Park and two at Pinjarra.
Blaze Coops is on her best behaviour
Enigmatic mare Blaze Coops has ruined her winning prospects many times by racing fiercely. But the Victorian-bred seven-year-old was on her best behaviour at Gloucester Park on Friday night when she paced smoothly in front for Kyle Harper and held on to win the $23,000 Gordon and Cecelia Cox Pace by a narrow margin.
Blaze Coops, the $2.90 third favourite for part-owner and trainer Shane Tognolini, was smartest to begin from the No. 3 barrier and dawdled through the lead time in 38sec. and the opening quarter in 31sec.
The field of six raced in Indian file until Dylan Egerton-Green eased off the pegs with $9 chance Champagne Everyone 750m from home. This run was followed by the $2.80 second fancy Freyja, who was pushed three wide at the 550m mark when Unlucky was eased off the pegs.
Champagne Everyone took a narrow lead on the home bend, but Blaze Coops fought back and went on to win by a head from Freyja, with Champagne Everyone a head away in third place. Captainshavtime, the $2.50 favourite, raced in last position and was still last with 200m to travel before finishing solidly into fourth place.
“This looked on paper a suitable race for Blaze Coops,” said Harper. “I didn’t have to open her out of the gate, and she settled quite good. We just worked her way out of the gate and got a nice easy lead time, the slowest she has seen for a long time. If she starts to use her speed early, she doesn’t stop, and this can bring her undone.
“Hopefully, she can repeat the dose on Tuesday (when she begins from the No. 1 barrier in race seven over 2130m at Gloucester Park).” He rivals include Freyja (barrier five) and Champagne Everyone (barrier three).
Blaze Coops is by American Ideal and is the sixth foal out of Safely Kept mare Cyclone Dora, who was unplaced at her nine Victorian starts in 2008 and 2009. She now has had 90 starts for 15 wins, 17 placings and $137,356.
Her elder half-brother Change Of Mind had a ten-year career in Queensland and New South Wales and earned $287,021 from 37 wins and 39 placings from 275 starts.
Dalvey Robyn succeeds in new role
Experienced seven-year-old Dalvey Robyn was seen in a new role for the first time in ten starts in WA when he set the pace from the No. 6 barrier in the 2130m Prince Brino Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Trainer Gary Hall jnr had driven Dalvey Robyn as a sit-sprinter at his first nine starts in WA before he planned to test his gate speed in a bid to lead on Friday night when he was concerned that Aiden de Campo’s six-year-old Rockandrollartist would prove extremely hard to beat if he took the lead from the outside barrier in the field of seven.
“I was worried that if Aiden beats me out and gets in front of me, I would be in trouble,” said Hall. “Reverse the draws, and I think you could pretty well say that the result would be reversed.”
Dalvey Robyn was the $1.50 favourite, with Rockandrollartist the $4.20 second fancy. Ideal Tomado ($34) was smartest into stride from the No. 2 barrier, while Dalvey Robyn was out three wide and holding Rockandrollartist at bay, and then out four wide before surging to the front after 120m, leaving Rockandrollartist in the breeze.
Dalvey Robyn settled immediately and coasted through the lead time in a slow 38.5sec. and the first quarter in a leisurely 32sec. Then followed 400m sections of 30.1sec., 28.1sec. and 27.3sec. with Dalvey Robyn holding on grimly to win by a head from Rockandrollartist, rating 1.57.9.
“I was happy with Dalvey Robyn’s gate speed,” said Hall. “I didn’t know how he would go. This was the first time I had asked him to show good gate speed, and he handled it well. He settled nicely after firing out and then dropping the bit.
“I was a bit worried because sometimes when you fire a sit-kick style of horse off the gate, they don’t have a lot there at the finish. He got away with a fair bit early and I was thankful that we held Rockandrollartist out.”
Dalvey Robyn, a gelding by Washington VC, has now raced ten times in WA for three wins and four placings, taking his career record to 58 starts for 12 wins, 25 placings and stakes of $158,155.
Wheeler’s 40 years of fun
Thirty-nine years ago, Brian Wheeler made a wonderful start to his harness racing career when his first pacer as a trainer was successful, with Brian Clemens driving Yes Mar to victory in a race for two-year-olds at Collie in May 1986.
And now the 73-year-old Wheeler is still enjoying his hobby as a trainer in Collie with Bettor Move Along winning twice in the space of four days at Gloucester Park.
Wheeler’s son Trent drove an exceedingly well-judged race to land Bettor Move Along, the $3.10 favourite, to a decisive win in the $21,000 Bill The Better Butcher Pace on Friday night.
Wheeler, who trained and drove many winners on country tracks in the1980s and 90s with Antique Dream, Supreme Delight, Prince Pat, Miss Mischief, Whats In A Name and others, rarely ventured to the city. He spent 22 years as an underground surveyor in the Collie coal mines and another 28 years as a postman. He has also been president of the Collie Harness Racing Club for the past 27 years, with his wife Sue also serving on the committee for many years.
He now has trained seven Gloucester Park winners from only a handful of starters. Three of those wins were with Once Bitten, who gave him his greatest success when his son drove her to victory in the group 1 $100,000 Westbred Classic for two-year-old fillies in July 2015.
“I’ve been training for 40 years since we got Bella Flame, a brood mare, from the Hemsleys,” said Wheeler. “Yes Mar won three races and had about 36 placings. And every time we were broke and needed $37 to nominate, he would run a place. He was a family pet until he got colic, and we lost him.”
Bettor Move Along began out wide at barrier eight in a 2130m event on Tuesday of last week when Trent Wheeler drove him aggressively in the breeze outside the favourite Ruby Lou before getting to the front 120m from home and winning by just under a length from Chambray.
Bettor Move Along again started from the No. 8 barrier in Friday night’s 2130m event when Wheeler changed his tactics to good effect, opting to restrain the seven-year-old at the start, and then settling him in the one-out, one-back position.
Then, after the well-supported Captains Beachbabe dashed forward to the breeze after a lap, Bettor Move Along was shuffled back to sixth place, one-out and two-back. Wheeler bided his time before starting a three-wide move 650m from home, and Bettor Move Along responded well, taking the lead with 470m to travel and winning by 5m from Frankie Major, rating 1.57.7.
Bettor Move Along is raced on lease from breeder Bob Fowler by Brian Wheeler’s wife Sue and their daughter Hayley. The Bettors Delight gelding has been a handy performer who has earned $120,501from 14 wins and 26 placings from 97 starts.
“Bettor Move Along had seven starts in the country as a three-year-old for Peter Anderson before we got him in June 2021,” said Brian Wheeler.
“He was a real hard horse to get to pace. He had the big American hopples, the big bloomers on, and eventually we were able to race him in normal hopples and shoes, and he is now going smoothly. Originally, he had shoes with weights on the outside, and we tried everything, including bars. But he still paced roughly until he finally got better.
“Bettor Move Along’s six-year-old full-brother Follow Rocknroll was the same, and it has taken two years for him to pace properly.”
Follow Rocknroll, trained by Wheeler, was a $26 chance in a 2130m race on Friday night when he put up a strong performance to race in the breeze and finish third behind smart pacers Spyglass and Chillin.
Bettor Move Along and Follow Rocknroll are the first two foals out of unraced mare Rocknroll Royalty, whose dam Amongst Royalty was a star, racing 86 times for 23 wins, 27 placings and stakes of $570,820.
Rocknroll Royalty’s half-sister Lady Willoughby had 53 starts for 16 wins, 14 placings and $167,293, and her half-brother Lord Willoughby amassed $423,198 from 44 wins and 86 placings from 273 starts.
