by Ken Cassellas
Ace reinsman Gary Hall Jnr has given punters a good lead by opting to drive Campora in preference to stablemate Mach Time in the 1730m Fly Like An Eagle At Allwood Stud Pace at Gloucester Park tonight.
Drawing the favourable No. 1 barrier over the sprint journey obviously swayed Hall in his decision to drive the New Zealand-bred four-year-old who has won at five of his 24 starts in Western Australia. Hall has driven the gelding 13 times for four wins.
Campora has reasonable gate speed, but is not noted for his frontrunner prowess. The gelding’s prospects will be improved if he is able to get to and hold the early lead from the speedy eight-year-old Sightseeing Anvil, who will start from the No. 2 barrier. The Callan Suvaljko-trained and driven Sightseeing Anvil had no difficulty in leading from the pole and winning from smart performers New World Order and Ima Rocknroll Legend at a 1.56.5 rate over 2130m last Friday night.
This is the first time in his career that Campora has drawn the No. 1 barrier and it will be interesting to see whether he is capable of taking full advantage of the draw. However, he is a smart sit-sprinter and if he cannot hold out Sightseeing Anvil all will not be lost. He is capable of sitting behind the [pacemaker in his races before producing a sparkling late sprint.
Hall has driven Mach Time, the only other four-year-old in Friday night’s race, to five of his seven wins in Western Australia. His brother Clint has won twice with Mach Time and will be in the sulky this week.
Mach Time ended a losing sequence of nine two starts ago when, at his second appearance after a spell, he led from barrier one and held on to defeat Scoobys Delight at a 1.55.9 rate over 1730m on June 9. Then at his next start, a week later, he was restrained from barrier three and overraced four back on the pegs before choking down and finishing a distant last.
Hall Jnr will handle Zach Maguire and Clint will drive King Lebron in the first heat of the Chandon Pace, sponsored by Allwood Stud.
Zach Maguire will start from the No. 2 barrier on the front line, with King Lebron out wide at No. 7. Zach Maguire was suited by the hectic pace in a 1730m event last Friday night and he stormed home from seventh at the bell to win by six lengths from Frostyflyer.
The first 400m section of that event was covered in a sizzling 26.4sec. and Zach Maguire rated an exceptional 1.52.6 which was just 0.1sec. outside Run Oneover’s track record.
Zach Maguire will be tested this week by other smart four-year-olds El Hombre, Natural Disaster and New World Order in what should be a highly competitive event.
Chris Lewis will again be in the sulky behind the Ross Olivieri-trained El Hombre, who looks very hard to beat after getting the No. 1 barrier in the random draw. El Hombre is a smart frontrunner, but is also a tough campaigner who has won at two of his past three starts after working hard three wide early and then in the breeze.
If El Hombre sets the pace on Friday night Justin Prentice should enjoy a perfect trail with Natural Disaster, a strong-finishing winner at each of his two runs after a spell to take his record this season to ten starts for six wins and two placings.
Natural Disaster is owned by Rob Tomlinson’s Oz-West Pacing syndicate which also races the Ray Williams-trained New World Order, a model of consistency who can never be left out of calculations.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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