by Ken Casellas
Considerable interest will surround the debut of New Zealand-bred three-year-old The Pima Indian when the gelding makes his debut in the $18,000 Yearling Preparation at Allwood Stud Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The Pima Indian, trained at Serpentine by Gary Hall sen., is favourably drawn at barrier three on the front line in the 2130m event and should prove hard to beat after scoring easy wins in two trials at Byford on the past two Sundays.
He rated 1.58.6 when he beat Major Fitz by 40 metres in a three-horse 2150m trial last Sunday morning and he sprinted home over the final 400m in 28.5sec. when he won a five-horse trial from the promising Neighlor the previous Sunday.
The son of Changeover will be driven by Gary Hall jun., who preferred him to the Glenn Elliott-trained polemarker Illusionation, who possesses sparkling gate speed and has won at two of his past three starts.
The Pima Indian has a family tradition to uphold at his first appearance in a race in Australia. His maternal granddam Cherubic had four of her progeny race in Australia — and all won at their Australian debut — Franco Conquest (Newcastle, December 1999), Franco Concord (Globe Derby, December 2000), Franco Croupier (Strathalbyn, December 2001) and Franco Cruz (Bendigo, November 2011).
The Prima Indian faces some strong opposition from the outstanding filly Maczaffair and Tisadream, who are racing in excellent form. Maczaffair, to be driven by Chris Lewis for Henley Brook trainer Mike Reed, has amassed $247,295 in prizemoney from 11 wins and seven placings from 23 starts. She will start out wide at barrier eight on the front line.
Maczaffair also started from the No. 8 barrier last Friday week when she raced wide early and then in the breeze before winning by almost two lengths from Pick My Pocket, rating 1.55.4 over 1730m.
Tisadream, trained at Capel by Andrew de Campo, finished third in the WA Derby earlier in the year and he is in splendid form, winning by big margins over 2536m at Gloucester Park and 2100m at Bunbury at his latest outings. He will start from the outside of the back line and should be charging home in the final stages.
Pick My Pocket, to be driven by Tom Buchanan for Boyanup trainer Justin Prentice, is racing with admirable enthusiasm, but will need some luck after starting out wide at barrier seven. Tyler Bret, to be driven by Colin Brown for Banjup trainer Dylan Egerton-Green, should be prominent from the No. 2 barrier. He covered a lot of extra ground before finishing strongly to win from Bravo Tex over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Monday afternoon.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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