Sparks are set to fly
Fireworks are set to explode when star mares Aardiebytheseaside, Steno and Our Sandy Shore clash in the $150,000 Westral Mares Classic over 2536m at Gloucester Park on Friday night when the three female drivers in the group 1 event are sure to be planning to gain a significant advantage by getting to an early lead and then dictating the terms of the race.
Deni Roberts (Aardiebytheseaside) and Maddison Brown (Our Sandy Shore) have signified their intentions of making bold bids to win the start, while Jocelyn Young is certain to think seriously about using Steno’s renowned explosive gate speed.
The Colin Brown-trained Our Sandy Shore is in dazzling form and her twelve starts this season have produced eight wins and two placings --- and she has drawn the prized No. 1 barrier, with Maddison Brown saying: “It’s obviously going to be a high-pressure race, and we will be using Our Sandy Shore’s gate speed with guns blazing, for sure.
“Then we will have to assess what we’ll do (attempting to set the pace or opting to take a sit). I was happy with the way she did it last Friday night (when she began from the No. 5 barrier, took the lead after 300m and won by a length from Sista Sammy over 2130m).”
Aardiebytheseaside, prepared by leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, has drawn favourably at barrier No. 2, while Steno has an awkward draw at barrier six.
“I think Steno and Aardiebytheseaside are going to have a good look (for the early lead),” said Roberts. “I’d say I’ll have a go for the lead to take advantage of the barrier draw. I’m pretty happy that we have drawn at barrier two.
“I wanted to draw inside of Steno this week, after she drew inside of Aardiebytheseaside in the Norms Daughter Classic two Fridays ago and set the pace.” Aardiebytheseaside had a tough run in the breeze before wilting to finish fifth behind Steno, who held on to win by a half-head from the fast-finishing Little Darling.
“Aardiebytheseaside (a winner at eight of her ten starts this season) has done well since that run, and her latest hoppled run was good, and I’m happy with her.”
Steno is noted for her blistering gate speed and her ability to record fast times when setting the pace. She has won at 21 of her 45 starts and has shown she is capable of running a strong race over 2536m, having won the Golden Nugget Consolation in December 2023 and finishing a one-length second to Aardiebytheseaside (1.54.6) in the Empress Stakes last April.
“Steno seems really well in herself,” said Young, who trains the five-year-old, as well as four-year-olds Castella Dellacqua and Peaceful, who face tough assignments from difficult draws, with Castella Dellacqua out wide at barrier seven and Peaceful on the outside of the three runners on the back line.
Trent Wheeler has been engaged to drive Castella Dellacqua, and Kyle Symington will drive Peaceful.
“Peaceful has a couple of strings to her bow,” said Young. “Castella Dellacqua’s work has been excellent, and if the race is run upside down, I wouldn’t be surprised if she runs home strongly.”
Little Darling is in top form for trainer Barry Howlett and star reinsman Chris Lewis, with strong finishing seconds to Aardiebytheseaside and Steno at her past two appearances. She will start from barrier five and looks set to be driven in a sit-sprint capacity.
Wonderful To Fly (barrier three) and Penny Black (barrier nine) are racing enthusiastically and are certainly not impossible.
Wonderful To Fly, trained and driven by Shane Young, ran on well when third to Steno in the Norms Daughter Classic, a week after finishing fast to win from Hampton Banner over 2130m. Wonderful To Fly set the pace when second to Simply Shaz in the Mares Classic 12 months ago.
She also showed her ability over 2536m last year when she finished second to Simply Shaz in the Empress Stakes and second to Tricky Miki in the Golden Nugget.
Zephyra is set to shine
Four-year-old Zephyra is the only mare in the field of twelve in the 2130m Go One Better With Westral Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night and has drawn out wide at barrier seven.
However, Serpentine trainer-reinsman Dylan Egerton-Green is enthusiastic about her winning prospects after she had performed strongly in tougher company last Friday night when a fighting fourth behind Our Sandy Shore.
She began from the outside barrier in the field of eight and raced three wide for much of the first lap before working in the breeze.
“She can’t seem to get a (good) draw, but she was good last week, and she and Bellezza Nera (barrier two on the back line in the Westral Shadetrack Outdoor Blinds Pace) are probably my best two winning chances,” said Egerton-Green, who has a drive in seven of the ten events.
Zephyra, a winner at ten of her 33 starts, has a losing sequence of eight and is overdue for a win after having competed against top-flight mares Aardiebytheseaside, Steno, Little Darling, Starlight Dream and Our Sandy Shore at her five most recent outings.
Her toughest opponent is likely to be four-year-old Heez Good As Gold, who will be making his first appearance for six months when he begins from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line for trainer Mike Reed and reinsman Shannon Suvaljko.
Heez Good As Gold has won at only four of his 31 starts, but he has plenty of ability as he showed when third behind the brilliant Never Ending in the group 1 Westbred Classic last April.
Maddison Brown has chosen to drive the polemarker Ifeel Sikdarl ahead of Im Spiderman, and she is hoping the Ryan Cummins-trained six-year-old reveals his customary gate speed in a bid to set the pace.
Name In Lights, trained by Debbie Padberg, will start from the No. 5 barrier after warming up with an all-the-way win in a 2150m Byford trial last Sunday. He beat Whos The Dad by two lengths, rating 1.59.5.
Lindsay Harper, one of 13 drivers to have handled Name In Lights in his 121-start career of six wins and 32 placings, will be driving the gelding for the fourth time. Name In Lights has finished second at two of his past three starts but he has managed just one win from his past 80 appearances.
Bellezza Nera is handily drawn at barrier two on the back line in race four over 1730m, and Egerton-Green said: “He is racing in career-best form and likes the sprint. He is capable of being right in it.”
Bellezza Nera was a $54 outsider and a $71 shot on the fixed market when he raced four back on the pegs and was seventh at the bell before finishing powerfully to win easily from Otis over 2130m last Friday week. Three starts before that he raced in the one-out, one-back position before running home strongly to win from Tantabiddi and High Price over 1730m, rating 1.54.9.
Whataretheodds ready to improve
Smart five-year-old Whataretheodds was beaten for early speed from the No. 1 barrier before enjoying an ideal passage in the one-out, one-back position and finishing determinedly to be a well-beaten second to Ventura over 1730m last Friday week.
It was a solid effort at his first outing for three months, and his trainer Ryan Bell declared: “I was rapt with the way he went. He was massive and I think it was the best he has gone.
“It was the quickest he has ever gone, when he was beaten fair and square by a better horse (Ventura) on the night. He pulled up well and has improved. It will be hard against Vegas Strip (barrier one), but I think Kyle (Symington) has got to come out and have a look for the lead and see what happens.
“Whataretheodds will actually begin better from barrier four than he would from the No. 1 barrier. He has done it his whole career. From barrier one he just can’t compose himself.”
Vegas Strip, to be driven by Deni Roberts for trainers Greg and Skye Bond, is sure to start a short-priced favourite. He has won at eight of his 19 starts and gets a great chance to end a losing sequence of eight.
He is a smart frontrunner who set the pace before fading to fifth behind stablemate Christopher Dance in the 2536m WA Derby two starts ago, and then had little luck when he was restrained from out wide at barrier eight when seventh behind High Price over 2130m last Friday night. He was last in the middle stages and then was forced to cover a lot of extra ground.
Golden Lode, a stablemate of Vegas Strip, and The Cody Wallrodt-trained The Beaudster are racing keenly and should be prominent.
Dylan Egerton-Green had to deliberate at length before deciding to drive Lucky Copy ahead of Shoobees Double in the Westral Quality Since 1973 Pace for two-year-old fillies.
He has driven each filly to impressive last-start victories, and a more favourable barrier at No. 3 swayed Egerton-Green’s judgment in that filly’s favour ahead of Shoobees Double, who will begin out wide at barrier eight.
“They both went well in their recent wins,” said Egerton-Green.
Lucky Copy, trained by Aiden De Campo, resumed after a four-month absence when she began from barrier three in a 2190m event at Northam last Saturday night. She mustered plenty of pace and sped to the front after 80m before zipping over the final 400m sections in 28.7sec. and 28.6sec. and winning by two and a half lengths from The First Cut, rating 2.1.7.
Shoobees Double rated 2.2.3 when she won from the pacemaker Chekker over 2100m at Bunbury last Saturday week. Shoobees Double, prepared by Simone Strachan, began from barrier three and after an unsuccessful challenge for the early lead she sat behind Chekker and finished solidly along the sprint lane to win by just over a half-length.
Hall opts for Tricky Miki
Champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr has given punters a valuable lead by opting to drive Tricky Miki ahead of Wildwest in the $31,000 Westral Roller Shutters Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Tricky Miki, trained by Justin Prentice and a winner at 13 of his 35 starts, will begin from the No. 7 barrier in the field of eight, while evergreen eight-year-old Wildwest, trained by Gary Hall snr, is favourably drawn at the No. 2 barrier and will be driven by Trent Wheeler, who needs one winner to chalk up his 600TH in a splendid career.
Tricky Miki is sure to appreciate a considerable drop in class after unplaced efforts behind Mister Smartee in the Stratton Cup and behind Minstrel in the WA Pacing Cup at his two latest starts.
Before those defeats Tricky Miki appreciated the No. 1 barrier when Hall drove him to an easy all-the-way victory over Lavra Joe and Alcopony in a 2536m Free-For-All in mid-October.
Wildwest, the winner of the WA Pacing Cup over 2936m in February 2022, has bright prospects of winning the start and setting the pace --- and proving hard to catch.
His stablemate Jumpingjackmac will begin from barrier six, with regular reinsman Stuart McDonald in the sulky and keeping his tactical options open.
Leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond hold a powerful hand in the final event, the 2130m Westral Honeycomb Pace for three-year-olds in which they will be represented with three of the eight runners ---Thelittle Master, Tualou and Thenu Came Along.
Star driver Deni Roberts has chosen to handle Tualou, who will start out wide at barrier No. 7 in the field of eight runners. Tualou won for the sixth time from 13 starts when he led from barrier four and easily beat stablemates Golden Lode and Christopher Dance over 2536m three Fridays ago.
Thelittle Master (Stuart McDonald) will start from barrier six, with Maddison Brown in the sulky behind Thenu Came Along, who will be tested from the outside barrier.
“Tualou has come through from the Derby (sixth behind Christopher Dance) very well, and then his next run was very good when he led and won very easily,” said Roberts.
“Thenu Came Along always goes well, and Thelittle Master is sure to have benefitted from his first-up run (when third behind Franklin Delano at Pinjarra). His Pinjarra run didn’t suit him that much, and we have made a couple of gear changes, and we should see a better version of him this week.”
Gary Hall jnr will drive Franklin Delano from barrier two. The New Zealand-bred gelding has won at four of his eight starts, with his most recent four starts all being at Pinjarra and resulting in a second to Goodtime Louis and three wins.
“It’s a pretty good field, but Franklin Delano is going alright,” said Hall jnr. “He gets out really good and likes to lead.”
Apart from Aardiebytheseaside and Tualou, Roberts has excellent winning prospects with Gee Heza Sport, who will begin from barrier three in the $25,000 Westral Verishade Curtains Pace over 2130m.
Gee Heza Sport has won convincingly at his past three runs, two in standing-start events and one in a 2536m mobile event.
“He is pretty exciting and is a cool customer who won’t be affected by switching from a stand to a mobile,” said Roberts. “He has good gate speed as he showed when he held out Hampton Banner comfortably two starts ago.”
