16 July 2020 | Ken Casellas
Darling Downs trainer-reinsman Aldo Cortopassi admires Victorian-bred pacer Art Tutor for his great determination and he is confident the five-year-old will prove hard to beat in the opening event, the 2130m Garrard’s Horse And Hound Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Art Tutor is favourably drawn at the No. 2 barrier on the front line and Cortopassi’s Plan A is to win the start and set the pace in a bold bid for victory.
Art Tutor has revealed a great fighting spirit at his past two outings, on the past two Friday nights, when he has gone forward three wide early and then worked hard in the breeze before fighting on doggedly for a close second at $51 to Bolta over 2130m and a 2m second at $26 to Lord Rosco over 1730m.
“He’s not blessed with a lot of high speed, but he’s as tough as they come,” said Cortopassi. “I don’t know how far he will go when he gets up in grade. In this grade, he’s there every week. It’s quite a reasonable field on Friday night, Pierre Whitby and Bolta are nice horses and any one of four or five can win.
“I’ll have a crack for the front, and if he can find the front, he’ll be hard to beat. And if he sits in the breeze, he’ll still be hard to beat. He’s dour and it hasn’t surprised me that he has become a good breeze horse.”
Cortopassi has prepared Art Tutor for his past ten starts for two wins and two second placings for the gelding’s Albany owners Bob and Ruth Poolman. Cortopassi has enjoyed a long and enjoyable association with the Poolmans and he has fond memories of the successes they had together in the early 1990s with The Red Baron.
Bolta, trained by Michael Young, finished solidly to get up and beat Art Tutor over 2130m two starts ago, and reinsman Gary Hall jnr said that he expected another strong effort from the five-year-old, who will start from the No. 3 barrier.
“If Bolta had drawn inside of Art Tutor, he probably could have led and won,” said Hall.
Walsh is racing soundly for trainer-reinsman Aiden de Campo, who said: “He is racing really well, but from barrier four I don’t know where he will get to.”
The Debra Lewis-trained Pierre Whitby maintained his consistent form when he finished strongly from eighth at the bell to be third behind Power And Grace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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