Howlett seeks another Cup win
Busselton owner-trainer Barry Howlett has high hopes of winning the $50,000 Trotters Cup for the third time when Gary Hall jnr drives Sunnys Little Rose in the group 2 standing-start feature event over 2503m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Sunnys Little Rose warmed up for the big race in fine style when she finished second to Chumani in a 2503m stand last Friday night, and she is ideally drawn at barrier two on the front line this week.
She raced in third place in an Indian file affair last week before finishing with a solid burst. Bred in Victoria, she is a lightly raced six-year-old who has had 22 starts for three wins and eleven placings. She is a capable standing-start performer who has raced eleven times in stands for her three wins, four seconds, two thirds and two unplaced efforts.
Last Friday week Sunnys Little Rose trailed the pacemaker Aldebaran Sundown and finished a sound third behind Luvaflair and Patched in the 1730m TABtouch Trotters Sprint.
Howlett has won the Trotters Cup with Sunnys Little Whiz in December 2016 and Our Maestoso in February 2024. He also owned and trained Sunnys Little Jestic when she finished a head second to Princess Mila in the Cup in December 2020.
Sunnys Little Rose is the first foal out of the unraced mare Our Sunny Rose, whose dam Our Sunny Whiz was an outstanding trotter who earned $348,781 from 19 wins, six seconds and two thirds from 45 starts. Eighteen of her wins were in stands. Her first foal was Sunnys Little Whiz, whose 48 starts produced 18 wins,15 placings and $150,140.
Chumani, Patched and Nickys Son are expected to be Sunnys Little Rose’s main rivals. Chumani, to be driven by Chris Voak for trainer Terry Ferguson, will start from the 10m line on Friday night. He began off the front last Friday night when he led for the first 30m before Uptown Lad dashed to the front.
Voak eased Chumani off the pegs with 950m to travel and the eight-year-old regained the lead about 500m later before winning by a length from Sunnys Little Rose.
Patched will share the back mark of 30m with Luvaflair, with Nickys Son one of six runners handicapped on the 10m line. Patched, to be driven by Aiden De Campo for trainer David Young, came home strongly from sixth at the bell to finish a close second Luvaflair in the Trotters Sprint last Friday week.
Patched began off the 20m mark when he won the Trotters Cup by two lengths from Chumani in February 2023, and then he started off 40m when an excellent third behind Our Maestoso and Evas Image in last year’s Trotters Cup.
Champion reinsman Chris Lewis has won the Trotters Cup three times --- scoring with Earl Of Charity (2015), Mr Sundon (January 2020) and Our Maestoso last year. Nine-year-old Nickys Son, trained by Michael Munro and to be driven by Lewis, caught the eye last Friday week when he finished full of running into fourth place behind Luvaflair.
Luvaflair will be driven by Donald Harper for Waroona trainer Nigel Johns, who prepared the wonderful square gaiter Compressor for his victory in the 2009 Trotters Cup.
Johns has four runners in this week’s Cup --- Luvaflair, Sellune (Dean Miller), Dark Secret (Lauren Harper) and Aldebaran Sundown, a nine-year-old he will drive from the outside of the 10m line.
Pinny Tiger ready to fire
Glamour pacer Pinny Tiger will resume racing after a 12-week absence when he begins from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line in the $31,000 Media Cup over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night --- and he showed that he is ready for a strong first-up performance with an effortless trial win at Pinjarra three Wednesdays ago.
The seven-year-old’s regular reinsman Chris Voak did not use the gelding’s brilliant gate speed in the five-horse trial, and was content to let him settle in last place in the Indian file trial before sending him forward with 700m to travel.
Pinny Tiger, who paced kindly throughout the trial, got to the front 300m later and was not extended in winning by three lengths from Callmewhatuwant, rating 1.58, with the final four 400m sections being run in 29.8sec., 29.5sec., 28.8sec. and 27.5sec.
Voak will have options on Friday night when he will decide between racing with a sit before asking Pinny Tiger to unwind a powerful finishing burst, or whether to attempt to steel a march on the gelding’s rivals by using his dazzling gate speed.
Pinny Tiger, part-owned and trained by Michael Brennan, has won at 20 of his 54 starts. He has been freshened up since he set the pace from the No. 1 barrier in the 2536m WA Pacing Cup early last November but ruined his chances by pulling hard and fading badly over the final 500m to finish a distant last.
His clash with exciting six-year-old Swingband promises to be a highlight of the ten-event program. Swingband, trained by Ryan Bell and driven by Kyle Symington, will start out wide at barrier No. 8. He should be close to his top after two excellent runs at his two appearances after a spell.
He raced outside the pacemaker Lavra Joe before wilting to fourth behind that star pacer over 2536m last Friday night, and he also worked hard without cover when a first-up neck second to Hampton Banner over 2130m two weeks earlier.
Machnificent (barrier seven) and Dalvey Robyn (barrier five) will also have admirers. The Katja Warwick-trained Machnificent, driven by Stuart McDonald, enjoyed a perfect trail in the one-out, one-back position before running home strongly, out wide, to finish second to Lavra Joe last Friday night.
Dalvey Robyn, trained and driven by Gary Hall jnr, impressed in winning a 2185m trial at Byford on Sunday morning. Recent placings behind Goodfellaz, Ventura and High Price were pointers to better things to come.
Brennan will be bringing a team of five from his Coolup stables to Gloucester Park, with Art Major colt Xpress Party having bright prospects in the $23,000 GPHR Tipping Comp Winner Trent Cooper Summer Series 0-2 Win final.
Xpress Party, to be driven by Hall, reappeared after a four-month absence in fine style with a splendid victory over Kinsaabi on Tuesday of last week. He began out wide at barrier eight and settled at the rear before dashing forward, three wide, to be fifth at the bell and then taking the lead 450m from home and winning at a 1.56.9 rate over 2130m.
One of Xpress Party’s chief rivals appears certain to be his stablemate My Hammer Down, to be handled by Voak. My Hammer Down has made most of the running at his two most recent outings for easy wins at Bunbury and Northam.
Brennan’s other runners on Friday night are Sea Fury (race two) and Cassini Belle (race nine). Sea Fury, to be driven by Maddison Brown, is favourably drawn at barrier two in the GPHR Tipping Comp Third Place Ken Casellas Summer Series NR up to 60 final over 2130m and has each-way prospects after placings at Pinjarra and Bunbury at his past two outings.
Cassini Belle, to be driven by Voak, should be prominent from the No. 1 barrier in the Allwood Stud Summer Series 0-1 final for fillies and mares.
Egerton-Green’s choice
Serpentine trainer-reinsman Dylan Egerton-Green faced a difficult decision when deciding between Hale Saint Louie and Im Lightning Banner as his drive in the $27,000 GPHR Tipping Comp Runner-Up Ernie Manning Summer Series Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
He has driven Hale Saint Louie at 24 of the gelding’s 25 WA starts for eight wins and eight placings, and he has handled Im Lightning Banner in all of his 19 starts for seven wins and five placings.
He has given punters a valuable lead by choosing to drive Im Lightning Banner from the No. 4 barrier, and he has engaged star reinsman Gary Hall jnr to handle the polemarker Hale Saint Louie.
For good measure, Egerton-Green also has the in-form Maungatahi engaged in the race. The six-year-old’s past two runs have resulted in a frontrunning victory over Showpony at a 1.57.5 rate over 2130m at Gloucester Park last Friday week and then a good second to Magnus Victor over 2190m at Northam last Saturday. Maungatahi will be driven by Maddison Brown and will start from the No. 2 barrier on the back line.
Adding considerable interest to Friday night’s race will be the appearance of last-start winners Waverider, Soho Santorini and Magnus Victor.
Hale Saint Louie has a losing sequence of ten and is overdue for a win after thirds behind Tualou at Gloucester Park and Magnus Victor at Northam at his past two outings.
Im Lightning Banner has been most impressive and is aiming for his fourth win in a row. He has made most of the running at his Gloucester Park wins (beating Thenu Came Along at a 1.57.1 rate over 2130m and following that with a win at a 1.57.6 rate over 2130m) before completing the hat-trick with an easy victory over Soho Santorini at a 1.57.6 rate over 2100m at Bunbury two Mondays ago.
Waverider, to be driven by Kyle Symington for trainer Ryan Bell, cannot be overlooked as a strong winning prospect. He notched his ninth win from 21 starts at Gloucester Park on Tuesday of last week when he began speedily from barrier five and then was restrained out four wide before finding a spot in sixth position in the one-wide line.
He was last in the field of seven at the 600m before being switched four wide in the back straight and sprinting strongly to hit the front 120m from home and winning easily from Arionrock and Lamandier.
Blaze On poised to test Gully Gum
Bunbury trainer Bob Mellsop will be approaching the Bobby Breadcarter Summer Series 0W/15K final over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night with a good degree of confidence after Gully Gum had drawn the prized No. 1 barrier.
Few pacers have won successive events at Gloucester Park, but Gully Gum has bright prospects of achieving that feat when he contests race one on Friday night after winning the final event last Friday evening.
However, it is unlikely to be a walk in the park for Gully Gum with Mellsop fully aware that Blaze On, drawn the No. 2 barrier on the back line, has wonderful potential. And the veteran horseman is in an ideal position to assess the ability of Blaze On, a New Zealand-bred five-year-old who was prepared by Mellsop for his first 16 starts in Western Australia for six wins and two placings.
Mardella trainer Michael Young has had Blaze On in his stables for the gelding’s past eleven starts --- for two wins and four placings. And Blaze On has struck top form with a vengeance in the past few weeks --- starting from barrier seven, racing three wide before getting to the breeze 1300m from home and then fighting on grandly to finish a half-length second to Storyteller at a 1.56.1 rate over 2130m three Fridays ago.
And then Blaze On, driven by Gary Hall jnr, went to a new level at Gloucester Park on Tuesday of last week when he began from barrier five, raced three wide early and then in the breeze before dashing past the pacemaker Major Overs 400m from home and going on to win by three lengths from that pacer with a final quarter of 27.8sec.
Gully Gum will be driven by Deni Roberts, who is sure to be anxious to win the start and then set the pace. Last Friday night Gully Gum, from the No. 1 barrier, led for the first 250m before Showpony burst to the front and then put the brakes on with a slow opening 400m section of 32.6sec.
The next quarters went by in 30.6sec. and 29sec. before Gully Gum asserted his superiority by sprinting over the final 400m in 27.5sec. to beat Showpony by a length at a 1.58.1 rate.
