Brilliant New Zealand-bred five-year-old Our Sky Major, a winner of five group 1 feature events and $777,717 in stakes, will make his Gloucester Park debut when he starts from the No. 2 barrier in the Nexans Olex Pace, a C10 to C15 event in which his clash with up-and-coming star American Boy will be a feature of the ten-event program.
Our Sky Major, a winner at 15 of his 53 starts, is prepared at Boyanup by Justin Prentice, who took over the preparation of the horse just over two months ago.
Prentice drove Our Sky Major at his West Australian debut when he was a 10/1 on favourite in a 1609m at Bunbury on June 4 and was surprisingly beaten. After starting from barrier five, Our Sky Major raced three wide early before taking the lead at the bell. He sprinted over the third quarter of the final mile in a sizzling 26.9sec. before wilting in the final stages to finish third behind Lord Lombo and Northern Assassin. The winner rated 1.53.6 after a final quarter of 28.2sec.
That was Our Sky Major’s first run since he finished sixth in a 3200m stand at Addington on March 26. Our Sky Major has had 13 starts this season for just one second and two thirds. He shone as a four-year-old, winning at four of his eight starts, including the $200,000 Chariots Of Fire at Menangle in March 2015 (recording a time of 1.51.5 over 1609m) and the Four-Year-Old Emerald at Ashburton two months later.
Our Sky Major, who finished a head second to Our Maxim in the 2240m Victoria Derby at Melton in February 2014, is sure to prove a worthy opponent for American Boy, who has shown tremendous promise in winning at 11 of his 14 starts.
American Boy has drawn the prized No. 1 barrier and Gary Hall jun. will be determined to set the pace. Trainer Gary Hall sen. said he was looking forward to American Boy clashing with Our Sky Major.
“It’s a strong field, but American Boy is in good form,” he said. “American Boy has good gate speed and will lead and prove hard to beat. His past two runs have been outstanding.”
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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