Harper enjoys his Luvaflair
Talented reinsman Donald Harper continued his love affair with chestnut mare Luvaflair when he drove the seven-year-old to victory in the $31,000TABtouch Trotters Sprint at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
This was Harper’s tenth win with Luvaflair, who is prepared by Waroona trainer Nigel Johns, who also has driven the mare to ten of her 23 career wins.
“It’s great to get a win for Nigel; they’re family to me,” said Harper, who won ten times with the Johns-trained mare All Flair, the dam of Luvaflair, who was bred and is owned by Victorians Noel and Kaye Boyd.
Luvaflair won the Trotters Sprint in March 2023 when she beat Line The Starzzz and Patched, and then finished an unlucky fourth behind Our Maestoso in same event last January.
She was a $14.80 chance from out wide at barrier seven in Friday night’s 1730m group 3 event, in which Hold That Gold dominated betting as the $1.32 favourite after winning at his seven previous starts.
Hold That Gold began speedily from the No. 3 barrier and led by three-quarters of a length but was unable to cross Luvaflair’s stablemate Aldebaran Sundown ($6.50), while Luvaflair settled down in sixth place. Harper quickly made up ground on the inside and Luvaflair soon was enjoying an ideal passage, three back on the pegs as Aldebaran Sundown was setting a fast pace with Sunnys Little Rose ($12) trailing the pacemaker.
“I had a bit of luck in the run, and we took short cuts,” said Harper. “It all worked out, and once I got into the clear at the 700m I thought she was a good show from there.”
Patched ($11), the only runner on the back line, was sixth at the bell and he sustained a spirited burst to finish a close second to Luvaflair, who dashed past Aldebaran Sundown and into the lead approaching the home turn. Luvaflair then fought on grimly to hold Patched at bay.
“Luvaflair is a quality mare, and even from bad draws she runs a drum,” said Harper. “And when things work out for her, she normally pops up (and wins).”
Luvaflair has proved to be a hardy performer who has raced 119 times for 23 wins, 39 placings and $224,782 in prizemoney. She is by French sire Love You and is the first foal, and only one to race, out of All Flair, who earned $121,187 from eleven wins and 60 placings from 171 starts.
Flair, the dam of All Flair, managed three seconds and $1203 in stakes from 15 Victorian starts before becoming a wonderful brood mare who produced nine winners, including Compressor (205 starts for 25 wins, 60 placings and $221,026) and Opulence (165 starts for 23 wins, 29 placings and $121,043).
Compressor was a star in WA where he won 20 races for Johns after five wins in Victoria. Opulence won four times for Johns.
Johns was delighted with Luvaflair’s win but said that his drive Aldebaran Sundown was an unlucky fifth after setting the pace. “The connecting strap to the elbow pads became detached,” he said. “I’m not sure when that happened, but the protective pads were dangling over the final 400 metres, and this affected him. Otherwise, he would have gone close to winning.”
The elbow joints protrude out from the extreme top of the back of the horse’s front legs, and without the protective pads Aldebaran Sundown’s front hooves were striking the elbows, placing the gelding at a disadvantage.
Johns said that he would be setting Luvaflair and Aldebaran Sundown, as well as his other starters in Friday night’s race (Dark Secret and Sellune) for the $50,000 Trotters Cup next Friday week.
“There is also a standing-start race for trotters next Friday night, and I’ll be considering starting my runners in that race as well,” said Johns.
“Luvaflair is one of the best horses I’ve had. She is so consistent and never runs a bad race. She had been racing for two years straight until last winter when she had her first spell for ages, and that was because I was in hospital having my heart valves done.”
Jones looks at the Nullarbor
Star WA-bred pacer Lavra Joe finished strongly when fourth in the Nullarbor last April, and now the seven-year-old’s owner-trainer Ray Jones has his sights on the $1,250,000 Nullarbor slot race at Gloucester Park on April 25.
He was speaking after Maddison Brown had driven Lavra Joe to an effortless victory in the $31,000 Joe and Margaret Petricevich Memorial Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“We’re there to be picked (by a slot holder),” said Jones. “That was a nice easy win; and he is always hard to beat when he gets to the front.”
Lavra Joe was the $1.30 favourite from the outside barrier in the field of eight, and Brown sent the gelding forward, three wide, from the outset before he dashed past Hoppys Way and into the lead after 400m.
After a smart lead time of 36.5sec. Lavra Joe relaxed through the opening quarters of the final mile in 31.6sec. and 30.7sec. before sprinting over the final 400m sections in 28.7sec. and 27sec. He coasted to a two-length victory over $7.50 chance Hoppys Way, rating 1.56.8 over the 2130m.
This boosted Lavra Joe’s record to 36 wins, 18 placings and $814,365 in prizemoney from 82 starts, with Brown saying: “He has been going super, and he didn’t have much luck last week (when he locked wheels with another runner on the home turn and finished last behind Hampton Banner). I got a very easy first half of the race tonight.”
Jones said that Lavra Joe would keep racing, and he was looking at the $50,000 Lord Mayor’s Cup on February 21 as well as the $50,000 Pinjarra Cup (March 3) and the $50,000 Bunbury Cup (March 29).
Cordero relishes drop in class
Veteran pacer Cordero made the most of a significant drop in class when he proved too good for his eight rivals in the $31,000 Go One Better With Westral Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The nine-year-old, owned and trained by Trevor Wright, was the $2.70 favourite from barrier seven, with Kyle Harper content to race him in sixth position, one-out and two-back, before he sprinted home strongly to take the lead 115m from the post and stroll to a 5m win over the $3.60 second fancy High Price, who had got to the front 270m from home after racing outside the pacemaker Major Overs for much of the way.
Cordero, who is by American sire Western Terror, has inherited much of his ability from his dam, the former star pacing mare Innocent Eyes, who amassed $421,875 in prizemoney from 18 wins and 17 placings from 62 starts, with the highlight of her career being her win in the $200,000 Chariots Of Fire at Harold Park in January 2006.
Cordero thrives on racing, and he now has a record of 162 starts for 16 wins, 39 placings and $282,317.
“We lobbed in the right position but the slow opening sections of 31.8sec. and 29.6sec. were not in our favour,” said Harper. “But his class prevailed, and obviously he handled them pretty comfortably.”
Maungatahi is back on song
Six-year-old Maungatahi appreciated a drop in class and bounced back to form with a smart win in the $21,000 North Coast Firbreglass Neerabup Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
He was the $1.50 favourite and he ended a sequence of eight unplaced efforts when his trainer Dylan Egerton-Green drove him to victory by a half-length from the $7.50 third fancy Showpony, with Ideal Tomado ($6) three lengths back in third place.
“After he was able to hold out Ideal Tomado over the first 100m he was able to pinch a good first half (62sec.), and then it was a battle of the blazes up the home straight,” said Egerton-Green, referring to the conspicuous white blazes of the winner and runner-up.
Maungatahi began from the No. 4 barrier, and with Showpony in the breeze, he dashed over the final 400m sections in 28.2sec. and 27.7sec. to win at a 1.57.5 rate and improve his record to 43 starts for ten wins, 14 placings and $104,124.
He is by American sire Betterthancheddar and is out American Ideal mare Poppy Maguire, who won twice (in New Zealand) from eight starts. This was his second metropolitan-class win.
“He will keep racing and hopefully go through the grades and earn,” said Egerton-Green. “He is honest as the day is long.”
The win completed a double for Egerton-Green, who had one starter, Follow My Stride, at the Busselton meeting on Friday night.
Follow My Stride, a seven-year-old mare with a losing sequence of 26, was a $15.90 chance who gave Sara Grout (23) her first win in the sulky when she came from last in the early stages to finish strongly to beat the $2.70 favourite Remarkable Rock in a 2400m stand.
Egerton-Green’s younger brother Logan (29) notched his first double at the Busselton meeting as a trainer when Joey Suvaljko drove Cheap Thrillz ($15.10) and Extinction ($6.70) to victory. Suvaljko then completed a treble when he won the final event with $4.10 chance The Whizzer.
Storyteller is versatile
Promising New Zealand-bred five-year-old Storyteller followed his impressive all-the-way victory the previous Friday night when he was seen in a vastly different role when he began from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line in the $23,000 Hoist Solutions Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
He was the $2.30 favourite, with Gary Hall jnr content to let him drop back to settle in last position while the early pace was hectic.
The lead time was a sizzling 35.1sec. with $5 chance Mr Fantastic beginning speedily from barrier seven and challenging the polemarker Longreach Bay for the early lead.
Mr Fantastic set the pace and Infinite Sign ($12) came from the rear to move to the breeze with 1200m to travel, and soon after that Emily Suvaljko sent Lets Get Rockin ($15) forward with a three-wide burst which was followed by Hall with Storyteller.
Infinite Sign took a narrow lead at the 250m before Lets Get Rockin got to the front in the home straight. Storytelller (eighth at the bell) went four wide on the home turn and finished strongly to get up and win by a head from Lets Get Rockin, rating 1.56.3 over the 2130m journey, with final quarters of 28.8sec. and 29.6sec.
“Storyteller always felt the winner after that fast lead time,” said Hall. “And the cart up probably helped him a bit. However, he probably would have won without it. It’s good to get the win because he has been a bit of a funny horse and a hard horse to get past the post (in front) on occasions. And it’s good for him to get two wins together.”
Storyteller, trained by Gary Hall snr, has raced only 15 times for seven wins, three placings and $66,617.
Freyja is on the march
Comeback mare Freyja gave a sample of her ability with an impressive victory in the $23,000 Join Trotsynd Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Contesting her first metropolitan-class event, the seven-year-old, trained and driven by Jocelyn Young, revealed excellent gate speed from barrier four to withstand an early challenge from Blaze Coops and then enjoyed her frontrunning role.
After a lead time of 37sec. and reasonable opening quarters of 30.9sec. and 30.6sec., Freyja, the $1.90 favourite, sprinted over the final 800m in 56.2sec. to win by a half-length from the $3.80 second fancy Blaze Coops.
This was Freyja’s sixth appearance after being out of action for three years and four months after sustaining a tendon injury following an all-the-way win at Pinjarra in August 2021. Her six starts for Young have produced three wins and three seconds, and she appears destined for bigger and better things.
“Freyja was a lot sharper tonight than she was last week (when she had a tough run and was a head second to Our Lady Jen),” said Young. “I think she has the potential to be a Free-For-All mare, but at this stage she is just going through the grades.”
The $50,000 Laurie Kennedy Pace over 1730m on February 7 looms as an appealing target for Freyja, but Young will wait until she sees how the mare feels in the coming weeks.
“If she begins in that race, it will be a significant step up for her, but if she gets a sit on the rail she should go well,” said Young. “I’ll be driving Steno in that event, and I have Castella Dellacqua and Peaceful back in work, but I’m not sure whether they will be ready for that race.”
Freyja is still quite inexperienced, having had 20 starts for seven wins, five placings and $49,064. She is by Betterthancheddar and is the fifth foal out of the Armbro Operative mare Miss Feelgood, who raced 17 times in Victoria in 2011 for two wins, six placings and $8748.
Lord Titanium passes the $100,000 mark
Five-year-old Lord Titanium, described by his part-owner and Bunbury trainer Steve De Campo as an honest but somewhat lazy little horse, took his earnings past the $100,000 mark when he gave a bold frontrunning exhibition to score an easy win in the $21,000 Sky Racing Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
He was a $7.60 chance from the No. 6 barrier and Stuart McDonald paved the way for the win by getting the gelding away to a flying start.
He quickly dashed to the front with a smart lead time of 36.2sec. followed by honest opening quarters of 30.4sec. and 30.2sec. before he sprinted over the final 400m sections in 28sec. and 28.5sec. on his way to beating $5 chance Mister Macedon by 5m, with the $2.10 favourite Thelittle Master a neck away in third place. Lord Titanium rated a smart 1.55.8.
The 66-year-old De Campo, who has a team of four (Lord Titanium, Miki Windermere, Kopper Kote and a McWicked colt) in work, is also the track curator at Donaldson Park, the home of the Bunbury Harness Racing Club.
He has no regrets that he took a liking to Lord Titanium at the 2021 Perth APG yearling sale and purchased him for $22,000 before selling shares to a group of stable clients. Lord Titanium now has earned $106,269 from seven wins and 20 placings from 53 starts.
Lord Titanium gave De Campo his biggest success in harness racing when he won the group 2 Champagne Classic for two-year-olds as a $51.20 outsider in March 2022.
He is by American sire Control The Moment and is the first foal out of Bettors Delight mare Betshes Precious, who raced 73 times for nine wins, 16 placings and $66,366 in stakes.
Control The Moment (by Well Said) was an outstanding juvenile pacer in America where he raced 18 times for 12 wins, three placings and $1,227,832 in prizemoney.
“Lord Titanium has been going really well, and I was confident I’d get a forward spot, even though I wasn’t quite sure he was going to lead,” said McDonald. “The lead time (36.2sec.) concerned me a bit but I then got away with a couple of reasonable quarters (30.4sec. and 30.2sec.).”
Hectic pace suits Thenu Came Along
A scorching early pace played into the hands of Thenu Came Along, who relaxed at the rear before surging home from last to win the first heat of the Nights Of Thunder at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“I knew we were going to win about 300 metres after the start,” said driver Deni Roberts after guiding $6.80 chance Thenu Came Along to a convincing two-length victory over $41 outsider Bellezza Nera.
The polemarker Spyglass ($3.40) was hotly challenged for the early lead by the $2.15 favourite Ventura, who began brilliantly from the outside barrier in the field of eight. Lindsay Harper was in no mood to surrender the lead with Spyglass and the opening 400m section was run in a blistering 26.4sec.
After about 450m Gary Hall jnr was able to angle Ventura across to take the trail behind Spyglass, and the middle quarters were run in 30.3sec. and 29.3sec. with Bellezza Nera enjoying the one-out, one-back position, with Dalvey Robyn ($12) on his back.
Maddison Brown sent Dalvey Robyn forward, out three wide, about 520m from home and the gelding hit the front with 350m to travel but broke into a bad gallop soon afterwards and dropped back to finish last.
Thenu Came Along was unwinding a strong finishing burst and Roberts sent the four-year-old to the front approaching the home turn.
“We just needed a hot tempo, and I was definitely not running that early speed,” said Roberts. “Thenu Came Along got a bit lost when Dalvey Robyn galloped, and he got a bit wary going around that horse. But once he got past him, he realised that there was a race to win.”
Spyglass wilted to finish fifth, and he failed to qualify for the final next Friday night. However, Ventura scraped into the final field in the ninth and last spot after finishing fourth.
Four-year-old Thenu Came Along, a Bettors Delight gelding prepared by leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, has earned $116,234 from eight wins and 12 placings.
He was the only one of the Bond stable’s star three -year-olds of last season to be nominated for the Nights of Thunder. “And that’s because he is a little sit-kick horse who can stay up a lot longer than the other ones who have to do more work in their races,” said Roberts.
“He has just run 1.53.3 and his heart rate is 84.”
Spicey Major redeems himself
Spicey Major, the $2 favourite, redeemed himself when he was on his best behaviour and set a fast pace on his way to winning the second heat of the Nights Of Thunder at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Trained and driven by Gary Hall jnr, Spicey Major won the start from the No. 1 barrier when he easily held the $2.70 second fancy Heez A Vibe at bay. He then reeled off sparkling quarters of 28.4sec., 28.7sec., 28.2sec. and 28sec.and won by 5m from Chivalry ($11), rating 1.52.4 over 1730m.
His flawless display came a week after he had finished last as the $1.22 favourite in the Warwick Pace when he ruined his chances by contacting the mobile barrier arm and galloping badly.
“He has a bit of an attitude,” said Hall. “He does things wrong one week and then as soon as you start to dislike him, he gives you a reason to like him. He is a nice horse who needs to settle down a bit.”
Heez A Vibe, a brilliant last-start winner, wilted to finish seventh after racing without cover. Chivalry, who enjoyed a perfect sit in the one-out, one-back position, finished solidly into second place, a neck ahead of $12 chance Heavenly Wage, who trailed the pacemaker all the way.
Spicey Major and Chivalry (trained and driven by Lindsay Harper) are owned by Mick Boots, who will be hoping for another quinella result in next Friday night’s final. Spicey Major has earned $80,031 from eleven wins and eight placings from 43 starts.
