Copper Head Lady after winning the 2YO APG Sales Classic Photo by Pacepix
Brilliant young reinsman Liam Elliott has made a full recovery from a fractured wrist which kept him out of the sulky for 81 days, and he is poised to get punters away to a flying start at Gloucester Park on Friday night by winning the opening event, the 2130m Free Entry Pace with the Ryan Bell-trained Copper Head Lady.
Four-year-old Copper Head Lady is the least experienced runner in the field in which she is handily drawn at barrier three and has a distinct edge in class over her rivals.
She is sure to appreciate a considerable drop in class after finishing last in a field of eight seven weeks ago when she settled in third place but broke into a gallop about 200m after the start, dropped back and trailed her rivals, with Aardiebytheseaside winning by a half-head from Copy Cat Queen.
Copper Head Lady warmed up for this week’s assignment with a sound trial over 2242m at Narrogin last Saturday week when she was driven by Lachlan Kennedy and trailed the pacemaker Wicked Lover before running home solidly and finishing a half-head second to the highly promising unraced Lazarus colt Valentino.
The 19-year-old Elliott has driven 122 winners and will be handling Copper Head Lady in a race for the first time. He fractured his wrist when he was driving veteran pacer Trittrittbangbang, a $126 outsider who met with interference and dislodged him from the sulky after the gelding met with interference in a race at Gloucester Park on March 13.
Copper Head Lady showed considerable early promise when she finished a half-head second to Reinette in the group 1 Westbred Classic for two-year-old fillies in September 2024. She now has a record of 15 starts for five wins, five placings and $174,614 in prizemoney.
Her opposition on Friday night includes Take A Hike, a New Zealand-bred eight-year-old with a losing sequence of 15 for his owner-trainer Robin Zec.
Take A Hike, who will be handled by his regular reinsman Shannon Suvaljko, is getting close to another win after his past five starts have resulted in three thirds and two second placings. He caught the eye last Friday night when he began out wide at barrier seven and was tenth in the middle stages before sustaining a strong three-wide burst from eighth at the bell to finish second to Under The Alta.
