An impressive performance in a 2185m trial at Pinjarra on Wednesday of last week was a strong indication that the inexperienced mare Sheez Our Hope would prove hard to beat at her first outing for seven weeks when she contests the 2130m Simmonds Steel Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Five-year-old Sheez Our Hope, a winner at four of her seven starts, will be driven by Kyle Harper from the favourable No. 2 barrier.
Her owner-trainer Michael Cornwall handled the mare in the Pinjarra trial in which she began speedily and set the pace before being beaten by a half-head in the final stride by the experienced performer Major Times, a winner of 20 races and $291,487.
Cornwall did not extend Sheez Our Hope, who went to the line untouched and with seemingly plenty in reserve after a flying final 400m in 27.4sec.
Sheez Our Hope put up an excellent performance at her latest start when she began from the outside of the back line and was tenth at the bell before finishing solidly, out wide, to be fourth behind Wainui Creek in the group 2 Empress Stakes over 2536m. That followed her strong-finishing third behind Star Of Diamonds and Nikasa in the Golden Girls Mile at Pinjarra 11 days earlier.
Sheez Our Hope’s main rival is likely to be the polemarker, the Ross Olivieri-trained Run For Mercy, a winner at seven of her 42 starts.
“Number one is a perfect draw for Run For Mercy,” said star reinsman Chris Voak, who said that he had plenty of respect for Sheez Our Hope. “Run For Mercy is working into form and should perform well.”
