Hall is out to equal Pearl record
Rod Chambers dominated the early days of the Pearl Classic for two-year-olds when he drove the winner of the rich feature event six times in the space of nine years --- from 1990 to 1998 --- and now champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr has high hopes of equalling that record when he handles star colt Ideal Beach in the $100,000 Hoist Torque Australia Pearl over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Five different trainers have provided Hall with his five Pearl winners, with the latest triumph being three years ago when Hall combined with outstanding Boyanup trainer Justin Prentice to win the Pearl with the $1.30 favourite Never Ending, who defeated his stablemate Valedictorian.
Last year Prentice and Hall joined forces in the Pearl when Hall handled the $2.75 favourite Im Massimo from the inside barrier on the back line when the gelding got off the pegs 200m from home and fought on to finish third behind the polemarker and frontrunner Sebastian James.
Ideal Beach, purchased for $130,000 by Prentice at the 2024 Perth APG yearling sale and raced by him in partnership with several stable clients, was beaten on his merits in a qualifying heat of the Pearl on Tuesday of last week when he was making his first appearance for 24 weeks.
He began from the No. 2 barrier and was not driven out hard, with the polemarker and odds-on favourite El Mystro easily winning the start for trainer-reinsman Robbie Williams. This left Ideal Beach in the breeze, and he battled on gamely to finish second, two lengths behind El Mystro, who rated 1.57.2 over the 2130m, with final quarters of 29.4sec., 28.2sec. and 27.9sec. after a very slow lead time of 38.9sec. and an ambling opening 400m section of 30.7sec.
Ideal Beach has fared favourably for this week’s event, drawing the No. 2 barrier, with El Mystro drawn on the inside of the back line. El Mystro is undefeated at his three starts, impressing greatly with his effortless victories. There is no doubting his tremendous potential, but he will need some luck to overcome his tricky draw which could leave him hemmed in on the pegs for much of the way.
Ideal Beach looks capable of jumping straight to the front, with the polemarker Last King Of Capel appearing better suited racing with a sit.
Last King Of Capel, to be driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, is one of four runners in the race prepared by Aiden De Campo, who has trained Pearl winners The Miki Taker (2021) and Menemsha (2023).
Dylan Egerton-Green drove The Miki Taker to victory when he gave De Campo a remarkable trifecta in the race, with Floewriter, driven by Hall jnr, finishing second and De Campo driving Rock On Top into third place.
Last King Of Capel is probably the slowest of the stable’s four runners, but he has drawn well to earn,” said De Campo, who will drive Wheelsofortune from the No. 5 barrier.
The other runners from the De Campo stable are Bettor Behave (Trent Wheeler; barrier four), American Machine (Joey Suvaljko; barrier seven) and Wheelsofortune (to be handled by De Campo from barrier five).
Wheelsofortune impressed with a strong frontrunning display to win a Pearl heat from Bettor Behave, who trailed the leader all the way. American Machine raced in the one-out and one-back position in his heat in which he finished fifth behind El Mystro.
“Wheelsofortune is getting better with every run,” said De Campo. “He is tough and has high speed but faces a test from barrier five. American Machine has improved a whole lot since his heat run.”
Prentice trained Manning when he won the 2019 Pearl when driven by Chris Lewis, giving the master reinsman his fifth victory in the classic in which he has also notched eight seconds and five thirds.
Lewis faces a stern test in this year’s Pearl in which he will handle the only New Zealand-bred three-year-old in the race, the Barry Howlett-trained Of Claus Im Good, who has been unplaced at his two appearances and is awkwardly drawn at barrier six.
Leading trainer Michael Young will be relying on his two runners, Cease To React (Stuart McDonald; barrier three) and Toby George (Emily Suvaljko; barrier eight). They will be at liberal odds after unplaced efforts in the qualifying heats. Cease To React looks the better of the two.
