Luvbite Exceeds Expectations
When veteran pacer Luvbite was purchased for $10,000 about four months ago by a band of ace trainer Michael Young’s faithful stable clients, expectations were not particularly high.
However, the seven-year-old Victorian-bred gelding, who had managed just three metro-class wins (at Albion Park from 147 starts in Victoria and Queensland) and arrived in Western Australia with a losing sequence of 31, has belied cautious but hopeful predictions with four wins at Gloucester Park in the space of two months and earning $55,064 in prizemoney.
Luvbite completed a hat-trick of wins at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he was a $30.10 outsider who romped his way to an effortless victory in the $30,000 Pure Steel Pace over 2536m.
That followed decisive wins in 2503m standing-start events at his two previous appearances, and he now has raced 155 times for 17 wins, 57 placings and $256,940 in stakes.
Driven confidently by Young’s 22-year-old stablehand Kylah Madden, Luvbite overcame the disadvantage of beginning from out wide at barrier No. 8 by dashing forward, out three wide, to get to the front past the early pacemaker and stablemate Beetastic ($3.90) after 400m.
After comfortable opening quarters of 31sec. and 29.6sec. Luvbite gave his rivals little chance by sprinting over the final 400m sections in 28.5sec. and 27.6sec. He beat Beetastic by just under three lengths, with $151 outsider and last-start winner Medieval Man 4m back in third place.
Boy Blue, the $1.65 favourite from the outside of the back line, raced at the rear before following the three-wide run of the $3.80 second fancy Im Massimo at the bell. However, both pacers were forced wider in the final circuit and dropped back to fill the final two positions in the 12-horse field.
“I knew Luvbite had the speed to get forward but I expected Im Massimo to go forward. But he went back at the start,” said Young.
“Racing here has been barrier dominated for a few weeks now. I think they have re-done the track, and it is fence dominated at the moment, not only favouring the frontrunners and winners but the second and third placegetters are also coming from the pegs.
“Sometimes these older veterans do well when they are rejuvenated. He has always had the ability and has been a good horse.”
Copper Head Lady Is Back On Track
Trainer Ryan Bell has endured some worrying times with classy four-year-old Copper Head Lady and he heaved a sigh of relief at Gloucester Park on Friday night after the mare had scored a convincing victory in the 2130m Free Entry Pace.
She was the $1.80 favourite from the No. 3 barrier who was sent to the front by Liam Elliott after 300m and relished her frontrunning role before winning by two lengths from $31 chance Chekker, who finished solidly from seventh on the pegs at the bell. The winner rated 1.57.5 after dashing over the final 400m in 28.1sec.
Six weeks earlier, Copper Head Lady reappeared after a five-month absence when she broke into a gallop 350m after the start and finished a distant last behind Aardiebytheseaside.
“I would have been disappointed if she didn’t do the job tonight,” said Bell. “She will never win a race easily because she does only what she has to do. While it might have looked like she was stopping, Liam didn’t pull the plugs, and she had a bit in reserve.
“We’re on the right track with her. She has had a few issues, and we’ve been sorting them out. It has been a battle to get her back to her best form.
“She ties up really bad, and I think that her run in the WA Oaks last October when she led and finished third behind Fakenit affected her badly. It was after the Oaks that she was affected by a bad virus.”
Copper Head Lady, who is a daughter of champion sire Sweet Lou, has had 16 starts for six wins, five placings and $186,675. She showed early promise when she won the $125,000 Sales Classic for two-year-old fillies in March 2024.
Bell and Elliott completed a double on Friday night when $11.30 chance Fly To The Finish dashed to the front from barrier five in the 2130m Bridge Bar Pace and set a solid pace before winning by just under a length from $19 chance Cee Dee Three, rating 1.56.8.
“He is a big horse with good ability,” said Bell. “He has been matching it with Copper Head Lady in trackwork and therefore we expected him to race well. He won despite hitting a wheel and overracing.”
Fly To The Finish was placed at two of his five starts in New Zealand and then raced 24 times in New South Wales for six wins and seven placings before being purchased for $10,000 by Graeme Collins, who races the Bettors Delight five-year-old in partnership with his wife Pauline and their son Ben.
Fly To The Finish’s 34 WA starts have produced two wins, seven placings and $56,429 in stakes. His dam Tosti Girl (by Christian Cullen) was retired after having ten starts for four wins, four placings and $154,780. Tosti Girl won at three of her nine New Zealand starts and at her only Australian appearance she won the Group 1 New South Wales Oaks at Harold Park in February 2006.
American Eyes Overcomes The Odds
Inexperienced four-year-old mare American Eyes gave a sample of her excellent potential when she overcame the disadvantage of starting from the outside barrier (No. 9) and proving difficult to steer in the 2130m $9 Swan Draught Pints Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
She was the $1.50 favourite and was handled expertly by Maddison Brown for Serpentine owner-trainer Gary Jones, who bred, broke in and educated the American Ideal pacer.
Polemarker Dispatcher ($12) was smartest to begin before Diamondsforever ($10) led by three-quarters of a length after 120m and then broke into a bad gallop. American Eyes was not bustled early and raced three wide before obtaining the favourable one-out and one-back position after a lap, with the $4.20 second fancy Up And Alive in the breeze, with Diamond World ($15) setting the pace.
Joey Suvaljko sent Up And Alive to the front 550m from home before being joined by American Eyes approaching the home turn. American Eyes was not extended in going on to win by a neck from Up And Alive, rating 1.56.9 after the final three 400m sections were run in 29.3sec., 28.8sec. and 29.3sec.
“American Eyes is still very green, and she was hanging down during the race,” said Brown. “But she still had plenty there in the home straight.”
Jones affixed a nearside lugging pole for the first time for Friday night’s race, and this is sure to improve her steering.
American Eyes did not race as a two and three-year-old and she has had seven starts in this her first preparation for five wins, two placings and $36,993.
Jones said that he was intending to send American Eyes for a spell and he would contemplate preparing her for the Group 2 $100,000 Westbred Classic for four-year-old mares on September 4.
Hall’s Plan Pays Dividends
After the pacemakers had won the first three events at Gloucester Park on Friday night and with the track not favouring horses attempting to come from behind, champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr was determined to follow the winning formula later in the program.
And this was a wise decision, with Hall landing a treble with Youre So Fine, Gully Gum and Double Parked, each of whom enjoyed the frontrunning role.
Youre So Fine, trained by Gary Hall Snr, was the $2.30 favourite from the No. 1 barrier who defied strong early challenges for the lead from Mad Monday ($6.50) and Chivalry ($51) in the 1730m Bridge Bar Open This Saturday Pace.
After comfortable opening quarters of 29.7sec. and 30.4sec. Youre So Fine sprinted over the final 400m sections in 27.5sec. and 27.4sec. and beat the $3.30 second fancy Gee Heza Sport by just under a length after that pacer had raced in seventh position in the one-wide line before surging home, out three wide from the 600m.
“The start was the key,” said Hall Jnr. “The draws make the difference in these races. Youre So Fine is a classy horse with a big motor. He has had a lot of tendon injuries and whatever he does now is a bonus.”
Youre So Fine, a New Zealand-bred seven-year-old by Always B Miki, has been restricted to just 34 starts that have resulted in 14 wins, seven placings and $243,394.
The Bob Mellsop-trained Gully Gum began from barrier four in the 2130m Christmas In July Pace with little form to recommend him after having started from the No. 7 barrier at his two previous appearances and finishing 11TH as an $81 outsider and 12TH at $41.
Gully Gum burst straight to the front and was able to stroll through the lead time in a slow 37.8sec. and the opening quarter in an ambling 30.8sec. before increasing the tempo with 400m sections of 29.2sec., 28.4sec. and 29.1sec. and holding on grimly to win in a four-way photo finish.
He defeated Quinton ($20) by a nose, with a nose farther back to $26 chance Hold The Ammo, and $151 outsider My Ultimate Chevron a half-neck away in fourth place on the inside.
“I though it was going to be easy for Gully Gum turning for home,” said Hall. “But then when we hit the straight, he decided he wanted to turn into a snake, and so it was a relief when I saw his number go up in the frame.”
Double Parked, a New Zealand-bred five-year-old trained by Hall, was the $2.60 favourite from the No. 2 barrier in the 2130m Beau Rivage Pace when he won the start and set the pace with the $2.65 second fancy Rumble Strip in the breeze and the $3.50 third favourite Ultimate Miki enjoying the one-out, one-back position.
After a slow lead time of 39.3sec. and an opening quarter of 30.5sec. the pace increased with the final three 400m sections being run in 29sec., 28.2sec. and 28.3sec.
Rumble Strip got on terms with Double Parked approaching the home turn before he shifted out in the straight.
“Double Parked was travelling really well at the bell but when we got to the 700m he dropped the bit completely,” said Hall. “However, he managed to hold on and win. He is still very much a work in progress.”
This was Double Parked’s first win in WA at his fourth start in the State. He now has raced 25 times for six wins, nine placings and $91,567.
Opal Hunter, trained and driven by Robbie Williams, ended a losing sequence of nine when he was the $1.50 favourite and set the pace and beat $17 chance Haveyoumetted in the 2130m Book Into Steelo’s Pace.
Spyglass, a $4.40 chance trained and driven by Lindsay Harper, produced a strong frontrunning display to win the 1730m Trotsynd Pace in a thrilling finish, with Alcopony ($13) finishing fast on the inside to be a head away in second place, and $31 chance Petes Honour flashing home out very wide (from ninth at the bell) to be a neck farther back in third place, a head in front of the fourth placegetter Heavenly Gipsy.
“It’s a frontrunners’ track and drawing barrier one makes a difference,” said Harper.
Mystery Fred ($2.05) became the ninth pacemaker to win on the ten-event program when Waroona trainer Nigel Johns sent him to the front 550m after the start of the 2503m Trot and the four-year-old held on strongly to beat the $1.95 favourite McGee by 2m.
