by Ken Casellas
Champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr faces a busy time in the sulky at Gloucester Park on Friday night with eight drives and he has labelled speedy mare Ideal Alice as his best winning prospect.
Ideal Alice, trained by Hall’s father Gary, is perfectly placed at barrier No. 1 on the front line in the Spring Pace, a $25,000 listed classic event over 2536m.
She is a brilliant frontrunner whose 46 starts in Western Australia, all at Gloucester Park, have produced 16 wins and 15 placings after winning at three of her 11 starts in New Zealand.
The daughter of American Ideal boasts a splendid record from the No. 1 barrier. She has started from the pole position ten times in WA for six wins, three seconds and one third.
“She’s my best drive at the meeting and I reckon she’ll win,” said Hall Jnr “She should lead and she’s a hard horse to put pressure on because she runs so fast. The track is very fast and I reckon it is a three-length advantage for a leader at the moment.”
Hall Snr holds a strong hand in Friday night’s feature event in which he will also be represented by American Boy (Corey Peterson), Norvic Nightowl (Stuart McDonald) and Beaudiene Boaz (Kim Prentice). Hall Jnr said that he expected Norvic Nightowl to perform strongly, even from out wide at No. 7 on the front line.
Norvic Nightowl started from barrier eight in a 1730m sprint last Friday night when making his first appearance for 15 months. He was seventh at the bell before finishing strongly to be fifth behind Shandale. Ideal Alice started from the No. 9 barrier and ran on from ninth at the bell into sixth position.
Vultan Tin, trained at Coolup by Phil Costello, and Sprinter, trained at Blythewood by Gary Elson, will have many admirers, despite starting from unfavourable barriers, at No. 6 and No. 8, respectively.
Vultan Tin has been freshened up since he raced wide in the early stages, then worked hard without cover and fought on gamely to finish fourth behind El Hombre over 2130m on August 18. His form before that was outstanding, with his previous six starts producing an easy win over Sprinter, four seconds and one fourth.
Sprinter maintained his wonderful form when he started from barrier eight, settled in eighth place, dashed forward to work in the breeze after a lap and took a narrow lead 100m from the post to win by a neck from the pacemaker Gaz Wannabet last Friday night.
He has been driven in his past eight starts by Hall Jnr, who opted to drive Ideal Alice in this week’s race. Sprinter will be driven by Nathan Turvey, who has enjoyed tremendous success with the New Zealand-bred five-year-old.
Turvey said that he was delighted to renew his association with Sprinter after having driven the gelding 30 times for 12 wins, six seconds and four thirds.
Interest will also surround the return to racing of the enigmatic Condrieu, who will start from the inside of the back line, immediately behind Ideal Alice. Condrieu, trained by Skye Bond and a winner of 19 races, has been off the scene for three months. He should enjoy a perfect trip.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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