Astute Henley Brook trainer Mike Reed, fresh from a double with Henty and Shimmering on Tuesday night, will have a busy time with six runners at Gloucester Park on Friday night --- and he labels four-year-old Bettors Pride as his best winning prospect.
Bettors Pride, to be driven by Shannon Suvaljko from barrier three in the $31,000 Pat Cranley Memorial over 2130m, is a smart frontrunner who has won at seven of his 16 starts.
“He has good gate speed, and he should be able to lead,” said Reed. “And if he leads, I think he can win.”
Bettors Pride’s stablemate Blitzembye will be driven by Callan Suvaljko from the No. 1 barrier. The seven-year-old possesses excellent gate speed but is racing below his best and now boasts a losing sequence of 36 which includes just two placings from 30 starts this year and last season.
Bettors Pride is sure to be driven hard in a bid for the early lead, but this could prove somewhat difficult because Maximum Rock, trained and driven by Chris Voak, is also a speedy beginner and Voak is likely to make a bid for the front in the early stages.
Two starts ago Maximum Rock set the pace and won a 2503m standing-start event over 2503m at Gloucester Park, and two starts before that he led in a 2130m mobile event and won by five lengths from Dark Eyes.
Also capable of figuring in the finish are Golden Lode (barrier nine), Star Casino (seven), Magnus Victor (eight) and Hillview Bondi (barrier two on the back line).
Four-year-old Golden Lode, prepared by champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond, returned to his best form last Friday night when he began from the outside of the back line and moved to the one-out and one-back position after a lap before charging to the front with 300m to travel and winning by a length from Tiger Royal, rating 1.55.6 over 2130m, with a final 800m of 56.9sec.
Seven-year-old Hillview Bondi has won five times this season, and his trainer Ryan Bell said: “He is in career-best form. This is a handy field, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him figure in the money.”
