02 May 2019 | Ken Casellas
Champion trainer Gary Hall Snr admits that he is nervous as he prepares to watch his superstar pacer Chicago Bull make his much-anticipated comeback in the $25,000 Gannon’s Harness Racing Colours Free-For-All over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“Yeah, I’m apprehensive,” Hall said. “But only because I want him to do well.”
Six-year-old Chicago Bull has made a full recovery from a freak stable accident in New Zealand last October when he flipped over backwards and fractured eight bones in his wither region.
“There’s no problems with the injuries and he is not worried about them,” Hall said. “Recent cross-firing problems have been cured. We have trimmed his feet a bit. He had a size five shoe and we’ve now dropped down to a size four.
“He’s underdone, but I’m really happy with him. He worked well this morning (Wednesday) when he and Ideal Liner finished together. We didn’t put him to the sword. He’s drawn two on Friday night and we don’t want to burn him out in a bid for the early lead.
“He will have a few starts during the winter before getting ready to contest the Interdominion championship series in Auckland in November. And, all going well, he will return to Perth for the Fremantle Cup and WA Pacing Cup.”
Star reinsman Gary Hall Jnr will handle Chicago Bull on Friday night and he is expected to get the little gelding away smartly from the No. 2 barrier before making a bid for the lead. Polemarker Tact Major, a stablemate of Chicago Bull, is a speedy beginner. But Lauren Jones appears certain to take a sit when challenged by Chicago Bull. That would be in Tact Major’s best interests.
Bunbury trainer Stephen Reed’s comeback pacer Kiwi Legend possesses sparkling early speed and much interest surrounds the tactics employed by reinsman Mark Reed.
The Hall stable dominates the event, with five of the ten runners Chicago Bull, Tact Major, Whozideawasthis, Herrick Roosevelt and Campora.
Herrick Roosevelt (Stuart McDonald) is in tremendous form and Whozideawasthis (Micheal Ferguson) is also racing with great spirit. But neither has the class to seriously challenge Chicago Bull, who has earned $1,693,747 from 40 wins and 16 placings from 61 starts.
Chicago Bull boasts an amazing record at Gloucester Park where he has been unbeaten at his past 12 starts on the track where he has raced 46 times for 35 wins, four seconds, six thirds and one fourth placing.
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