27 December 2018 | Wayne Currall
Punters will be forced to take a very short quote about Stefsbest in the eighth race at Gloucester Park on Friday night, but he should post an all-the-way victory.
The Ross Olivieri-trained four-year-old entire has finished ninth, fifth and 11th at his last three starts at headquarters – not very encouraging stats when you’re thinking about investing your hard-earned on him.
However, Stefsbest drew wide in all three of those races and on two occasions raced against the very best in his age group in the 4YO Championship and the Golden Nugget.
Regular reinsman Chris Voak will be looking to make the most of Stefsbest’s pole draw and, barring accidents, he should be saluting.
Stefsbest entered Olivieri’s stable about three months ago after a mediocre career in Victoria.
He managed only two wins and seven placings in the east, but has improved out of sight under the care of Olivieri.
Stefsbest put a classy field of four-year-olds to the sword in a Nugget Prelude at GP just over a month ago when Voak speared him straight to the top from his inside gate.
He recorded a mile rate of 1:55.8 for the 2130m journey – the same distance of Friday night’s race – coming home the last 800m in a slick 57.3 and won as he pleased.
Horses such as King Of Swing, Lincs Tiger, Fizzing and Dancing With Mach we’re left floundering when Voak “cut the ribbons”.
The victory was the third in a row for Stefsbest and underlined his raw ability.
Consistent mare Sea Me Smile has drawn the inside of the back line and should get a great trailing run behind Stefsbest.
She looks a terrific chance to finish in the money.
Dominate The Dojo (gate two), Absolution (three), Luis Alberto (eight) and Anime (11) are all first-four players.
However, they’ll all have their work cut out beating Stefsbest.
The Voak Train should be toot-tooting in race eight and punters can make Stefsbest a banker in the last leg of the main quaddie.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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