It’s not often that three equine millionaire pacers clash in a race at Gloucester Park, and three Ms --- Mister Smartee, Minstrel and Magnificent Storm are poised to fight out a thrilling finish in the $100,000 Running Camel Brennan Memorial over 2536m on Friday night.
With champion trainer Gary Hall snr and his son, star reinsman Gary Hall jnr away in New Zealand for the World Drivers Championship series over the past fortnight Stuart McDonald has shouldered the responsibility of having Mister Smartee at his peak for this week’s feature event.
“I’ve been working him, so the pressure is on,” said McDonald, who will drive the New Zealand-bred five-year-old from the No. 5 barrier, a significant advantage with Minstrel drawn out wide at barrier eight and Magnificent Storm beginning from the inside of the back line of three runners, and in danger of being hemmed in.
“It looks like Mister Smartee has the chance to lead, and from there, if he shows his best, he has a strong winning chance,” said McDonald.
“Mister Smartee was a little bit disappointing when he finished third behind Minstrel and Never Ending in the San Simeon Pace last Friday week (when he raced in the breeze in the middle stages before getting to the front 375m from home).
“After that we found a couple of things with him, and now it’s up to me how he goes.”
Mister Smartee, a winner at 19 of his 29 starts, won the Brennan Memorial 12 months ago when he led from the No. 2 barrier and beat Sangue Reale by a length and a half. A year earlier McDonald set the pace with Jumpingjackmac from barrier one and scored a splendid victory in the 2023 Brennan Memorial.
Hall snr has an excellent record in the Brennan Memorial, having won the event five times --- with Alzona (2011), Waylade (2016), Chicago Bull (2017), Jumpingjackmac and Mister Smartee.
Eight-year-old Minstrel, a winner at 29 of his 75 starts, has bright prospects of giving champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond their third Brennan Memorial victory, after scoring with Vampiro in 2018 and Our Jimmy Johnstone the following year.
Minstrel, who will be driven by Deni Roberts, has resumed after a spell in terrific form, with a first-up third behind Magnificent Storm in the 2536m Porter Memorial, followed by 2130m victories over Gee Heza Sport and Mister Smartee, and over Never Ending and Mister Smartee.
Minstrel has finished ninth in the past two Brennan Memorials, but Roberts is optimistic about his chances, saying: “Magnificent Storm is not the only horse in the race that we need to beat, and we have Mister Smartee and Never Ending drawn inside of us. But Minstrel is going good enough that he can overcome the bad draw.”
Magnificent Storm, prepared by Ray Williams and to be driven by Aiden De Campo, is in outstanding form and has been able to lead and win decisively at his past three runs at Gloucester Park.
“Number ten is not a bad draw for Magnificent Storm,” said De Campo, who drove the Ryan Bell-trained Shockwave to victory in the 2020 Brennan Memorial. “Mister Smartee is likely to cross to the front, and the 2536m trip will give us options. Magnificent Storm is not going to have to go to the well this week.”
Star Boyanup trainer Justin Prentice will be relying on Never Ending (barrier six) and Rolling Fire (four) in a feature event in which he was successful when he drove the Michael Brennan-trained Im Victorious to victory in 2013.
Never Ending sustained a strong three-wide burst from ninth at the bell to finish second to Minstrel a fortnight ago, a performance which pleased his driver Jack Callaghan, who said: “That was a good run, and he was probably back to the way he likes to race.
“It is a strong field on Friday night, as you would expect, leading up to the WA Pacing Cup. We will have options, and I’ll discuss plans with Justin.”
Prentice is an extremely astute trainer, and he is sure to have five-year-old Rolling Fire (to be handled by Trent Wheeler) in excellent shape for a first-up effort after a 12-week absence.
