Former Victorian pacer Nathan Street faded to finish ninth behind Copy Cat Queen at his WA debut last week but he looks poised to bounce back and notch his first win in the State when he begins from the No. 1 barrier in the $23,000 Barbagallo Jaguar Land Rover Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Nathan Street, trained by Gary Hall snr, began from out wide at barrier eight last Friday night and settled down in last position before he made a fast mid-race dash to race in the breeze. The middle 400m sections were run in 28.3sec. and 28.5sec. and Nathan Street wilted after his hard run.
“He is a very good horse,” said Stuart McDonald, who will drive the Lazarus four-year-old gelding for the first time in a race. “He has had a few issues and got a long way behind the eight-ball and had we had him right he would’ve been the stable’s No. 1 Golden Nugget hope, even though we have two runners, Franco Motu and Alta Tribune in the race as well as Junior’s Chasing Rex.
“If he leads on Friday night, which I think he can, he will take some catching. His work this morning (Wednesday) was good. He is a high-speed horse and I’m sure he will prove he is a very good horse.”
Promising colt Control The Room will be having his third start in the space of eight days for trainer Ryan Bell when he begins from the No. 1 barrier in the $21,000 Barbagallo Alfa Romeo Pace over 2130m.
He will be driven for the first time by Jack Callaghan, who said: “He looked sharp when he won at Northam last Saturday, a night after running in the WA Derby. He’s got a good draw and should go close.”
At Northam, when driven by Liam Elliott, Control The Room enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and two-back, before unwinding a strong finishing burst to win by more than a length from the pacemaker and favourite Major Miki Whitby.
In the WA Derby at Gloucester Park the previous night Control The Room raced in the one-out, two-back position but enjoyed little luck when racing in restricted room in the final circuit and finishing seventh behind Runkle Crunch.
Leading trainers Greg and kye Bond hold a strong hand with four of the runners in the field of eight, and Deni Roberts giving punters a valuable lead by choosing to handle Troubadour from barrier six ahead of stablemates Captains Creek (Tom Nally; barrier two), Mad Monday (Donald Harper; barrier seven) and Rumble Strip (Stuart McDonald; barrier eight).
“I’m not sure what to make of Troubadour’s run (ninth) in the Derby last week,” said Roberts. “He was four deep at the bell, and the small field this week should give him a better chance.”
