Promising four-year-old mare Soho Vesper Lind has been driven as a sit-sprinter at several recent starts and has been placed at five of her past nine outings.
But after Soho Vesper Lind, trained by Kim Prentice, drew the prized No. 1 barrier in the $23,000 Foton Euro 6 Cummins Powered Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night reinsman Mitch Miller is seriously contemplating setting the pace in a bid for an overdue win.
“As a three-year-old she was a very good frontrunner before her attitude changed as she got older and became a bit more mare-ish,” said Miller. “She has been going very well with her sit-sprint capabilities, but if you drive her like that you rely on luck, and she has been unlucky a couple of times.
“There comes a time when you have to give Soho Vesper Lind her chance, and if she leads and is able to hold her form, she should be very hard to beat.”
Soho Vesper Lind’s chief rivals appear to be Star Casino (who will begin out wide at barrier eight) and Magnus Victor (who will start from the outside at barrier two on the back line).
Star Casino, an experienced New Zealand-bred six-year-old gelding trained by Ray Williams and driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, is racing keenly and will pay to follow. He began from barrier seven, raced in the breeze for the first lap and then enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and one-back, when a fighting second to the brilliant Golden Lode over 2130m last Friday night.
Magnus Victor, trained and driven by Aiden De Campo, gave an eye-catching performance in the same event in which he was 11TH and last at the bell before charging home, out five wide, to finish fifth.
“It was a super run,” said De Campo. “His past three runs have been promising, and I think he will run a good race.”
Chivalry, trained and driven by Lindsay Harper, rated 1.54.8 when he led from barrier one and won from Spyglass and Magnus Victor over 1730m last Friday week. He faces a much tougher task this week from the No. 9 barrier.
