Hall plans a fast pace
Champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr is planning to set a fast pace with the polemarker Heavenly Gipsy in a bid to win the $31,000 Vale Chris Garrard Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night when veteran superstar Magnificent Storm will resume racing after a 16-week absence.
Heavenly Gipsy, trained by Michael Young and the only mare in the race, warmed up for this week’s event in fine style with a brilliant all-the-way victory in a 2130m Free-For-All last Friday night when she rated 1.55.6.
“She should lead with me not looking over my shoulder, and she is capable of breaking 1.55, providing the track is not rain-affected,” said Hall.
Seven-year-old Heavenly Gipsy, who rated 1.55.1 when she led and won over 2130m four starts ago, is the least successful runner in Friday night’s race with earnings of $130,589, whereas eight-year-old Magnificent Storm has won at 37 of his 60 starts for stakes of $1,140,772.
Magnificent Storm, prepared by Ray Williams, will be handled for the first time in a race by Deni Roberts, who has been chosen to replace Aiden De Campo, who is away on an 11-day holiday in New Zealand and Fiji.
Roberts will be only the fourth person to drive Magnificent Storm. De Campo has driven Magnificent Storm 14 times for ten wins.
“I have never sat behind Magnificent Storm, and I’m very excited to have that opportunity on Friday night,” said Roberts. “He is a quality horse who I’ve come up against many times in races.”
Roberts certainly has seen a great deal of Magnificent Storm, having driven against him 33 times in races, and finishing in front of him only six times.
Magnificent Storm has raced first-up nine times for five wins. His most recent first-up efforts have resulted in a seventh, a second and a third placing.
It is significant that Hall has opted to drive Heavenly Gipsy ahead of the talented five-year-old Skylou, who is trained by his father Gary Hall snr. Stuart McDonald will drive Skylou, who will begin from barrier five. Skylou began off the 50m mark and impressed in running home strongly from tenth at the bell to finish a half-length second to Dawson over 2503m last Friday night.
With Emily Suvaljko away in Brisbane Henley Brook owner-trainer Kevin Keys has engaged Ryan Bell to drive Alcopony, the sole runner on the back line.
Bell is one of 16 drivers to have handled Alcopony in a race. His only time in the sulky behind Alcopony was in a race for two-year-olds at Northam on June 26, 2021, when the pacer won by seven lengths from Mister Piccolo.
“They took me off after that race, and it makes me feeling good to be driving him again,” said Bell. “Alcopony is one of the unluckiest horses going around. But when he gets the luck, he usually capitalises on it.”
Voak likes Maximum Rock
Smart four-year-old Maximum Rock has resumed after a spell in splendid form, and trainer-reinsman Chris Voak is confident the gelding will prove hard to beat in the $35,000 Garrard’s BOTRA Cup over 2503m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Maximum Rock is the only runner in the field of eight who has not contested a standing-start event. He will begin from barrier two on the front line, and looms as the chief rival to the favourite Dawson, who will begin from the 20m mark and will be seeking to extend his winning sequence to five.
Maximum Rock qualified to contest standing-start events when he began smoothly in a trial behind the strands at Pinjarra five Wednesdays ago.
After a first-up third behind Castella Dellacqua at Pinjarra on June 30 Maximum Rock ran home powerfully from eighth at the bell to win from Pushbutton Rock over 2242m at Narrogin the following week.
“He has a really good winning chance on Friday night,” Voak said. “I would like to lead, and if he does it will take a good horse to beat him. His stablemate My Silver Spoon beat Dawson in a stand at Gloucester at the end of May, and Maximum Rock is going better than My Silver Spoon was going.”
Trainer-reinsman Gary Hall jnr believes that Dawson can overcome the 20m handicap and emerge triumphant. “We saw last week that he doesn’t have to lead to win,” he said. “He is in the zone and will prove hard to beat.”
Dawson’s past three wins have been in stands, and the Sweet Lou four-year-old has bright prospects of winning and giving Hall his sixth victory in the 45-year history on the BOTRA Cup, one of the few remaining standing-start feature events on the WA pacing calendar.
Hall has won the Cup five times, scoring with Strike A Blow (2002), Spirit Of Shard (2008), Classic American (2015), Naughty Maravu (2016) and The Bucket List (2018).
His second-string runner Bluto will start from 30m with Maddison Brown in the sulky. Bluto started from 30m and dashed forward from the rear approaching the bell to get on terms with Dawson 220m from home before fighting on to finish a close third. Dawson had taken the lead with 450m to travel after racing one-out and two-back and then in the breeze.
Stuart McDonald, who drove the Bond-trained Carana to win the 2024 BOTRA Cup, will handle the 60m backmarker Im The Black Flash for trainer Gary Hall snr in Friday night’s Cup.
Im The Black Flash has a great record in his six appearances in standing-start events, winning four times and finishing second twice. He began from 50m when he won a 2503m stand at Gloucester Park in May this year, beating Chilli Punter and Skylou.
Chilli Punter will have many admirers on Friday night when she will start from 10m, with Kyle Symington in the sulky for trainer Jemma Hayman.
Anna aims to return
“It’s super nice here in Australia, and I hope to be back soon,” said Anna Hiltunen after driving unplaced runner Del Bocavista Bay in a race for novice drivers at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night.
The 25-year-old from Helsinki, the charming seaside capital city of Finland, will return home on Saturday week when her work visa expires after she has spent the past 12 months working as a stablehand for Busselton trainer Barry Howlett.
“I love horses and surfing and I’m hoping to be able to get another visa to come back to WA,” she said.
Hiltunen has had 29 drives in WA for five placings and dearly loves to be able to get back here to notch a few wins. She has driven eight winners and 11 placegetters from 89 drives on seven different tracks in Finland. She has also had the experience of riding trotters in monte evens in France.
She also had 29 rides as a jockey for four seconds and one third placing.
Apart from the major track, Vermo, in Helsinki, there are 18 provincial tracks in the country. Trotting is extremely popular, and it is the second most watched sport in Finland, after ice hockey.
Our Thunder set to explode
Our Thunder, a former New South Wales pacer who has a losing sequence of 63 and has managed just two wins from 79 starts, will make his West Australian debut and his first appearance at a metropolitan track when he lines up in the $21,000 BOTRA Thanks Lovick Fabrication Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The six-year-old whose racing has been confined to minor events on New South Wales country tracks and at Canberra, has the lowest possible national rating of 30.
Our Thunder’s latest success was 26 months ago when he sat behind the pacemaker Taste Up before getting up to beat that pacer by a half-head, rating 1.583 over 1770m at Canberra. His previous win was 11 months earlier when he led and won at a 2.2.4 rate over 1770m at Albury.
Those are hardly the credentials for a possible city winner at Gloucester Park. But he is expected to be a hot favourite and has three excellent reasons to be touted as a winner: He is prepared by the astute Michael Young, who has heads the WA trainers’ premiership table with 75 winners (25 ahead of his nearest rival, Aiden De Campo), will be driven by Gary Hall jun, who is the State’s leading driver this year with 115 winners (35 ahead of his nearest rival, Emily Suvaljko), and will start from the coveted No. 1 barrier.
It is also in Our Thunder’s favour that he will be meeting extremely modest opposition.
“I’ve never seen the horse, but Youngy thinks he is going okay,” said Hall. The general consensus is that Our Thunder will win the start and set the pace before going on to record a comfortable victory.
Two of his rivals were winners at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night --- with Luke Attack finishing strongly from the rear to win at a 1.59 rate over 2130m, and Mega Mach, who rated 1.58.5 over 2130m when he set the pace and won by two lengths after a final 400m of 28.8sec.
Baskerville trainer Ryan Bell faces a busy evening on Friday with Atlantic gem (race one), Mr Fantastic (race four) and Machs Bettor (race seven) in action.
He will handle Mr Fantastic, while Liam Elliott will drive Atlantic Gem and Machs Bettor. He will also drive Alcopony for trainer Kevin Keys in race five, and he has sound each-way prospects in the final three events in which will drive Sheza Sassy Lassy (race eight), Alta Allure (race nine) and Lady Dela Hoya (race ten).
“Atlantic Gem’s second last week was a massive improvement on her previous start (second at Narrogin), but I still feel she didn’t find the line as good as she could last week,” he said.
“Mr Fantastic has a good draw at No. 2 on the back line, but with Chase Me expected to race to the front from barrier three, it makes it hard. But in saying that, Mr Fantastic is dropping back in grade after leading and winning last week. He is meeting a three-year-old (Chase Me) who is stepping up in grade.”
Alta Allure (barrier four) and Lady Dela Hoya (barrier four) are trained by Annie Belton and have each-way prospects.
