02 September 2020 | Ken Casellas
Pinjarra trainer David Young is bubbling with confidence that Baylan Jett will celebrate his 100th start by leading and winning The West Australian Pace over 2536m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The Courage Under Fire six-year-old has impressed with excellent seconds at his past two starts behind Jimmy Mack and Carter Micheal and his prospects in this week’s race improved sharply when he drew perfectly at barrier one.
He mustered great early pace in a 2130m event last Friday night when he burst to the front after 500m and set the pace before being beaten by a half-head in the final stride by the fast-finishing Carter Micheal.
“He went super last Friday night and I was disappointed that he was beaten,” Young said. “But I was very proud with the way he stuck on. I clocked him off the television and he ran 26.9sec. for the quarter between the 2000m and the mile peg and I can’t ask him to do much more and still be there at the finish.
“The extra distance this week won’t worry him. His form over 2500m is pretty good. The last time he raced over 2536m was 12 starts ago (on May 26 this year) when I had the hood on him, and he overraced. I’ll just leave the Dollys on him this week.
“I don’t think there is anything there that will cross him, so we’ll be leading and, hopefully, he hasn’t taken any harm from last week’s run. He doesn’t seem to have taken any harm judge by the way he’s been bucking and carrying on.
“The danger appears to be McArdles Gem, who should get a good run behind him, and even though things didn’t go to plan for Robbie Easton last week, I still have plenty of respect for him. He’s a good horse, but he couldn’t sit outside Baylan Jett and beat him last week.
“The more Baylan Jett goes around, the better he goes. I’ve never worked a horse as hard as I’ve worked Baylan Jett, and he thrives on it. He gallops in the jog cart every day. It’s something I learnt from Aiden Warwick when he was training him.
“I’d love to throw Baylan Jett in the Free-For-All one night and just see how he goes.”
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
