02 August 2018 | Ken Casellas
Ace trainer-reinsman Colin Brown is upbeat about the prospects of Amelias Courage in the Gloucester Park – Entertainment With Horsepower Pace for three-year-old fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night, declaring that she was ready to repeat her victory over Our Angel Of Harlem two weeks ago.
Ryan Warwick may well have been presented with a perfect 40th birthday present with the decision to engage him to drive the Victorian-bred Amelias Courage from the No. 5 barrier in the quality field of seven fillies.
Warwick, who celebrates his birthday on Saturday, will handle Amelias Courage for the first time. He replaces Dylan Egerton-Green, who drove the filly to a notable victory over Our Angel Of Harlem last Friday week and is currently enjoying a holiday in the Greek islands.
Brown has decided to drive Amelias Courage’s stablemate Arma Rich Girl, who will start from the No. 2 barrier.
“Drawing inside of Our Angel Of Harlem and Liberty Rose gives Amelias Courage the advantage,” said Brown. “We’ve got options with Amelias Courage and I’d imagine that this week she will be driven a bit more positively. My filly is ready to go huge.
“It’s a small field, but a very nice field and whoever gets the luck in the run probably will emerge as the winner. I will be driving Arma Rich Girl, who is still learning how to race. However, she is improving and I expect her to go well. It wouldn’t surprise me if she finishes closer than she did last time (when sixth behind Amelias Courage two weeks ago).”
Mike Reed, trainer of Our Angel Of Harlem, said he was confident that his filly would turn the tables on Amelias Courage.
“Dylan Egerton-Green drove a good race with Amelias Courage in the one-out, one-back position while Our Angel Of Harlem did all the work (out three wide for much of the race),” Reed said “Then Our Angel Of Harlem won easily in a four-horse field at Pinjarra last Monday week.
“It was a good run and she has improved since then. I think she will go super; I couldn’t be happier with her and she’s getting better and better. I wouldn’t swap my filly with any other filly in the race.”
While most punters will be leaning towards Amelias Courage and Our Angel Of Harlem, Liberty Rose and Innocent Affair should not be left out of calculations.
Liberty Rose, prepared by Gary Hall Snr, had a tough run, out three wide and then in the breeze when a last-start fourth behind Amelias Courage at her first appearance for just over a month. She has impressed in winning at six of her 13 starts.
Champion reinsman Chris Lewis will handle Innocent Affair (trained by his wife Debra) from the prized No. 1 barrier and the Art Major filly is capable of leading and proving hard tom overhaul. She has set the pace and won at three of her past four starts
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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