15 March 2018 | Ken Casellas
Boyanup trainer Justin Prentice is delighted at his smart two-year-old Has No Fear drawing the coveted No. 1 barrier in the $25,000 Western Crown for fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night and declared: “This looks ideal for her. Sher has got good gate speed, so if she can hold the front over the mile (1730m), she will be hard to beat.
“At her most recent start (in the group 1 Sales Classic last Friday week) she fought all the way to the line, showing that she’s got a fair bit of toughness as well. It was the quickest time (1.57.6) she has run; she’s working well and is still improving.”
Has No Fear was the only runner off the back line in that event and she raced in fifth position, one-out and one-back, before fighting on to finish a half-length second to the pacemaker Soho Interceptor.
Before that, Has No Fear raced three times for a half-head second to Hong Kong Dolly on debut at Pinjarra and easy wins at Pinjarra and Gloucester Park. She has been driven in all her starts by Tom Buchanan, who will make every effort to jump to the front and set the pace on Friday night with the daughter of American stallion Western Terror.
Prentice will also be represented by Delightfull (Aiden de Campo, barrier four) and She Said Diamonds (Shannon Suvaljko, barrier seven).
“I was really happy with her latest run (third to Soho Interceptor and Has No Fear) and she has improved again from that,” he said. ”I would say that if you reversed the barrier draws with Delightfull and Has No Fear that Delightfull would be the horse to beat.
“Barrier seven is not ideal for She Said Diamonds, but she’s a nice filly on the way up. Tommy (Buchanan) thought she was the winner at the 200m at Pinjarra on Monday. But she weakened to finish fifth behind Itz All About Magic. She’s still a bit fat and her run on Monday should prove beneficial.”
Byford trainer Katja Warwick also has multiple runners in Friday night’s race in which she will be represented by Cap In Hand (Gary Hall jun., barrier two) and Hong Kong Dolly (Stuart McDonald, barrier five).
Cap In Hand scored convincing wins at her first two starts, at Pinjarra and Gloucester Park in February, before she galloped at the start and then overraced when five back on the pegs and was distanced in the Sales Classic.
Since then she has performed soundly in winning two trials at Byford and she should be prominent on Friday night from her favourable barrier at No. 2. Hong Kong Dolly was a winner on debut at Pinjarra early last month before she broke and raced roughly when a well-beaten sixth behind Has No Fear in a Sales Classic qualifying heat. She was checked and broke before recovering and winning a three-horse trial at Byford on Sunday morning.
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