05 July 2018 | Ken Casellas
There promises to be no brotherly love lost when Luke Edwards and his younger sibling Isaac clash in what should be an intriguing duel in the $22,000 Choices Flooring Osborne Park Pace over 1730m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Luke will drive the Ross Ashby-trained Johnny Disco from barrier No. 6 and Isaac will be in the sulky behind brilliant mare Maczaffair at No. 7. These two pacers are expected to dominate the betting on the event.
Johnny Disco has not raced since he finished fifth behind Cut For An Ace over 1730m on January 19 but he appears set for a powerful first-up effort after he set the pace for Trent Wheeler in a three-horse standing-start trial over 2116m at Pinjarra last Sunday week. After a leisurely opening section of the final mile in 31.7sec Johnny Disco sped over the next quarters in 28.4sec, 27.5sec and 27.4sec and won by 17 lengths at a 1.57.1 rate.
Johnny Disco, who has earned $266,909 from 16 wins and 16 placings from 55 starts, has been handled only twice by Luke Edwards, for a ninth behind Argyle Red at Bunbury last November and in a 2130m event at Gloucester Park two starts ago, on January 2, when he set the pace and finished a half-length second to outstanding four-year-old Ultimate Machete over 2130m.
That was a wonderful performance against Ultimate Machete, a star pacer who has amassed $807,126 from 12 wins and ten placings from 25 starts. Ultimate Machete won the Group 1 Golden Nugget last November and finished fourth behind My Hard Copy in the Fremantle Cup.
Maczaffair, trained by Mike Reed, has also finished second to Ultimate Machete in the prestigious Golden Nugget and she is sure to take a power of beating on Friday night when she will be driven for the first time by Isaac Edwards.
Maczaffair, the only mare in Friday night’s race, was a splendid last-start second to Bettors Fire in the 2536m Winter Cup and she is also an outstanding sprinter, who has raced four times over 1730m for three wins and a third, as well as winning over 1609m and 1684m.
Twenty-one-year-old New South Wales-born Mark Johnson gets an excellent chance of landing his first Friday night winner at Gloucester Park when he handles the Andrew de Campo-trained Handsandwheels from the prized No. 1 barrier in the 2130m first qualifying heat of the Chandon Pace.
Johnson, who drove 17 winners from 204 drives in New Zealand, has been working at the de Campo stable in Capel for the past three months. He replaced the suspended Aiden de Campo when he drove Handsandwheels to a smart all-the-way victory over 2100m at Bunbury last Friday night when he sprinted over the final quarters in 27.8sec and 27.7sec to improve the four-year-old’s record to 12 wins and 16 placings from 40 starts.
He has excellent gate speed and looks assured of leading. However, he will face a stern test against five-year-old Lets Chase The Dream, who will start from the No. 2 barrier with Gary Hall Jnr in the sulky.
Lets Chase The Dream should be close to his best at his fifth start after a spell and he is sure to appreciate a considerable drop in class. His fourth behind Galactic Star, The Bucket List and Cut For An Ace last Friday night extended his losing sequence to ten and under the drop-down regulations he has dropped down from an M3 assessment to an M2 classification.
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