Millionaire pacer Mighty Ronaldo shocked his driver Gary Hall jnr and trainer Justin Prentice when he was sixth or seventh on the home turn and faced a seemingly hopeless task before he surged home to get up in the final stride and score a remarkable victory in a thrilling three-way photo finish to the $31,000 Fly Like An Eagle Westbred Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“I sort of gave up before he did when we were about seventh with 40 metres to go,” said Hall. “I knew he could keep coming when we were wide on the bend. I hadn’t asked him for the full effort, but we seemed to be too far from them.
“All of a sudden, the further we got down the straight, the closer we got to the lead.”
Prentice said that he gave Mighty Ronaldo no hope of winning, saying: “Junior had to check off a horse who was hanging on the bend. And even when he crossed the line, I thought he had run third.”
However, the camera does not lie, and the photo finish revealed that Mighty Ronaldo, the $1.80 favourite, had beaten $34 outsider Cams Boulder by a half-head, with $51 chance Paul Edward, finishing strongly on the inside to be a further half-head back in third place, just a metre in front of the $9 chance Louie Dior, who had set the pace until the final couple of strides.
After a fast lead time of 35.5sec. Louie Dior relaxed and coasted through the opening 400m sections in 31.2sec. and 30.8sec., while Mighty Ronaldo, who had begun from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line, well back in last place in the field of twelve.
The final quarters were covered in 28.3sec. and 28.8sec. and Mighty Ronaldo rated 1.56.8. The WA-bred seven-year-old has now contested 74 races for 17 wins, 22 placings and stakes of $1,018,658.
Hall had sent Mighty Ronaldo forward, with a three-wide burst approaching the bell, with $31 chance Alcopony pulling out, three wide, just ahead of Mighty Ronaldo.
Alcopony battled on out wide down the back straight, without ever appearing likely to seriously challenge the leaders.
“Normally, I think that having that three-wide cover at that stage would be really good, but tonight I think that it was detrimental to his chances,” said Hall.
Mighty Ronaldo has excelled in his current campaign, winning at four of his seven starts since resuming from a spell. “He will now have a couple of weeks off before getting ready for the WA Pacing Cup,” said Prentice.
