14 January 2021 | Ken Casellas
Follow Dylan Egerton-Green. That was the message to punters after he had landed four winners Our Mista Kalle ($4.10), Talks Up A Storm ($1.80), Nigel Ernest ($8) and Chumani ($2.60) at Gloucester Park on Tuesday evening.
Egerton-Green has a great opportunity to get away to a flying start at Gloucester Park on Friday night by driving Pocket The Cash to victory in the opening event, the 2536m TABtouch Pace in which he will start out wide at barrier eight.
Pocket The Cash, a New Zealand-bred four-year-old trained in Bunbury by Stephen Reed, is racing with great heart and looks set to be very hard to beat this week.
He started from barrier six in a 2536m event last week and settled down in eighth position before losing ground in the back straight, racing for the bell. He was sixth with 550m to travel before finishing with a spirited burst to be second, a short half-head behind Antero.
Reed was impressed with the performance, saying: “He got inconvenienced at about the 1200m when the horse in front of him galloped. This probably cost him at least ten metres. It may have been the difference. But in saying that, we had our chance down the straight to run down Antero, who was strong enough to hold us off.”
Pocket The Cash, a smart winner at Bunbury at his previous outing, has been a model of consistency, with his 37 starts producing eleven wins, ten seconds and five thirds.
His major rival this week, and the likely favourite is another New Zealand-bred four-year-old in Master Publisher, who will be having his first start for two months and is ideally drawn at the No. 2 barrier on the front line.
Master Publisher, trained by Gary Hall Snr, was unplaced at his three starts in New Zealand and has raced 15 times in WA for six wins and a second placing. He has won first-up after a spell for the Hall stable at his WA debut when he led from the No. 1 barrier over 2536m in December 2019 and over 2100m at Bunbury last April.
His reinsman Gary Hall Jnr said that he gave Master Publisher a good winning chance. “It is a pretty suitable race for him, particularly if he can get to the top. If he’s anywhere near right he should go close to winning. If he had drawn in the middle of the line, I’d be a bit concerned first-up. But he’s got the barrier advantage, so he should be hard to beat.”
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