Stuart McDonald enjoyed one of his best nights in the sulky at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with the highlight of his treble being his cool display to land $29.10 outsider Franco Motu an impressive winner of the $125,000 group 2 North Coast Fibreglass Neerabup Four-Year-Old Classic.
Franco Motu had faded to finish ninth after working in the breeze at his two previous outings on the previous Friday nights, and he certainly enjoyed a perfect sit in the one-out and one-back position before finishing strongly to get to the front 40m from the post and beat his stablemate Alta Tribute ($16) to give trainer Gary Hall snr a quinella result.
Motu Franco’s victory gave Hall a record eighth win in this classic, and it was the 31-year-old McDonald’s first city treble since he was successful with Mister Smartee, Jumpingjackmac and Hes Never Been Beta on May 3 last year.
When Bettors Pride, the $5 second favourite, galloped at the start Franco Motu was left in the breeze, from barrier four, but when Maddison Brown dashed Alta Tribute forward to race outside the pacemaker Im Lightning Banner ($5.50) Franco Motu gained the ideal one-one trip after 200m.
After a slow lead time of 38.2sec. and moderate opening quarters of 30.3sec. and 29.5sec. the tempo improved dramatically when the $3.10 favourite Justcallmemiki surged forward from seventh to third, three wide, at the bell, and the final 800m was covered in 55sec.
McDonald delayed his move until he switched Franco Motu three wide about 200m from the finish, soon after Alta Tribute had overtaken the frontrunning Im Lightning Banner.
“I was aiming to work forward, and when Bettors Pride galloped, I was able to get around a couple before getting the sit behind Alta Tribute,” said McDonald. “The early pace wasn’t particularly fast which made it hard for the ones at the back.
“I drove Alta Tribute the previous week when he went super and finished third behind Tualou and Im Lightning Banner. But I was happy to drive Franco Motu --- and Alta Tribute produced another outstanding effort.”
Franco Motu and Alta Tribute showed that they should be prominent in the $200,000 Golden Nugget next Friday week, with stablemate Sweet Pins showing that he would be a worthy runner in the rich classic when he finished a close second to Hillview Bondi in the 2130m Bathroom Central WA Pace on Friday night when he set the pace for McDonald and was softened up when challenged for the lead by Longreach Bay after about 500m.
The other winners in McDonald’s treble were Mad Monday and Her Presence, with four-year-old Her Presence ending a losing sequence of ten when she was patiently driven by McDonald in the one-out, two-back position before sprinting home strongly in heavy rain to beat the pacemaker Stormyskyes by three lengths in the Lori Ki Pace.
