Boyanup trainer Justin Prentice has opted to drive the lightly-raced Bettor Reward in preference to his talented stablemate The Revolution in the $35,000 Alltools Four And Five-Year-Old Championship at Gloucester Park on Friday night and he is quietly confident that the gelding can make amends for his disappointing effort in the Pinjarra Cup on Monday of last week.
Bettor Reward, a winner at eight of his 13 starts, was favourite at 6/4 in the Pinjarra Cup in which he enjoyed a perfect passage behind the pacemaker Tricky Styx, but let his supporters down by just plodding in the home straight and wilting to finish tenth, more than five lengths behind the winner Tricky Styx.
“That has been his only disappointing run,” Prentice said. “He hasn’t taken any harm from his Cup run. He has pulled up in good shape and his work today (Tuesday) was super. He can bounce back this week.”
Bettor Reward will start from the No. 4 barrier in a field of six runners, and The Revolution will start from barrier five with Nathan Turvey in the sulky.
“I’ve chosen Bettor Reward because I know him well,” Prentice explained. “He’s not a real easy horse to drive and he’s got a slight draw advantage over The Revolution. He has also proven himself against the best four-year-olds in the State.”
Bettor Reward, who won at each of his four starts as a three-year-old, including a victory in the $100,000 group 1 Westbred Classic and last November he gave a sample of his class when he won the group 2 Four-Year-Old Championship at Gloucester Park, defeating the brilliant Beaudiene Boaz by three lengths, with Kiwi Legend and Tricky Styx finishing a further two lengths away.
The Revolution warmed up for this week’s assignment when Prentice drove him to a stylish all-the-way victory over 2130m at Gloucester Park last Friday week, beating Loaded Aussie by four lengths, rating 1.56.9. “The barrier hasn’t done him any favours on Friday night, but he’s going the best he has at any stage of his career,” Prentice said.
Turvey is looking forward to driving The Revolution this week. “I liked him when I drove him when he fi8nished sixth behind Bettor Reward in a 2100m Free-For-All in Bunbury two starts ago,” he said. “He’s fast and he can win if other horses in the race have a crack at each other.”
Even though there are only six runners in Friday night’s race, betting is sure to be spirited, with all runners having admirers. Five-year-old Kimba Bay (Kaiden Hayter) has drawn the prized No. 1 barrier and is the likely opening favourite after his bold frontrunning display last Friday night when he made the most of a pedestrian lead time of 38.7sec. and a dawdling first quarter of the final mile in 31.2sec. before sprinting over the next sections in 28.7sec., 27.5sec. and 28.8sec.
That was the Debra Sutton-trained gelding’s sixth win from his past eight starts and improved his career record to 19 wins and 13 placings from 42 starts for earnings of $212,769. His racing has been confined mainly to outer country tracks and he has raced only five times at Gloucester Park for two wins.
Trainer-reinsman Kim Prentice has a high opinion of The Odd Lover, who looks set to fight out the finish from the favourable No. 2 barrier. The Odd Lover, who has raced 15 times for nine wins and four seconds, is in sparkling form. He has charged to the front in the middle stages before winning easily at Gloucester Park and Northam at his past two outings. He scored by eight lengths over Foxy Dame at Northam on Thursday of last week.
Five-year-old Fernleigh Rebel , trained by octogenarian Ken White and driven by Chris Lewis, cannot be underestimated. He raced in the breeze before finishing strongly to win from Shardons Rocket at a 1.54.6 rate over 1730m last Friday week. He possesses excellent gate speed and Chris Lewis could well be tempted to charge forward from the No. 3 barrier in a bid to wrest the early lead from Kimba Bay.
Busselton trainer Matt White will drive the promising Three Bears, who raced wide early before bursting to the front in the first lap on his way to scoring an easy win in the 2597m Bridgetown Cup on Sunday. He will start from the outside of the six runners on Friday night.
“This is a step up in grade for him,” White said. “I was hoping that he would’ve drawn better. But in this small field he’ll be handy. If Kimba Bay and Fernleigh Rebel have a duel (for the lead) early it will be good for us.”
The Four And Five-Year-Old Championship was robbed of considerable interest when brilliant five-year-old Elegant Christian was withdrawn before acceptances. Trainer Clive Dalton said that Elegant Christian had pulled up sore after an impressive workout on Tuesday morning. A veterinary examination revealed that there was no muscular or ligament damage. The pacer was found to be suffering from a hoof abscess.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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