12 November 2020 | Ken Casellas
Leading concession driver Emily Suvaljko is looking forward to celebrating her wonderful achievement of chalking up a century of winners this season by guiding speedy six-year-old Chiaroscuro to an all-the-way win in the 2130m Chris Carr Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
A well-deserved victory would enable the Murray Lindau-trained gelding to end a 15-month drought and a losing sequence of 17.
Chiaroscuro will start from the coveted No. 1 barrier and Suvaljko (who took her tally of wins this season to 102 with victories behind $34 chance Seeknyoushallfind at Pinjarra on Monday and Cavalry Call ($2.90) at Gloucester Park on Tuesday) aims to take advantage of the ideal draw and the gelding’s sparkling gate speed.
“He is one of my best chances on the night and he should be right in it, in this class,” the 20-year-old Suvaljko said. “I have driven him at his past two starts and haven’t driven him forward. But Murray says he has very good gate speed, and he has been running the sectionals that the Free-For-All horses have been running. The main danger is probably As Happy As Larry.”
Chiaroscuro had no luck last week when tenth, three lengths behind the winner Vampiro. He was blocked for a clear run in the final circuit.
Chiaroscuro has started from barrier one in 2130m events at Gloucester Park seven times, leading and winning three times, sitting behind the pacemaker three times for two seconds and a third, and galloping out and racing in the breeze and finishing fourth once.
Suvaljko said she was excited to bring up a century of winners in a season. “I knocked off my personal best of 60 winners last season when I had 78 winners at the usual end of this season (at the end of August) and my goal each season is to break my personal best.”
She is also enthusiastic about the prospects of Jack William in the 2130m It’s Your Birthday Casey Greenfield Pace in which the Nathan Turvey-trained seven-year-old will start from the inside of the back line.
Jack William has been a model of consistency. His six starts before his last-start fifth (from the inside of the back line when he did not get clear until late) produced four seconds and two thirds.
“Barrier ten (inside of the back line) is definitely not his favourite draw,” Suvaljko said. “With any other horse I wouldn’t mind drawing ten, but with him, definitely not.
“We will probably have to see what comes out of the gate. It’s a very suitable race for him, if he can get to the breeze. I’m not sure whether we can get to the breeze and if we can’t get out early, we’ll probably have to push out later to try to get into the race.
“He pulled up with a bit of a cold after his latest run and he’s had a week’s break. He should be back to his best this week.”
Jack William, a winner of 13 races from 84 starts, certainly has the ability to win this week in a race with many chances, including Just Makemine Diamonds, Black Jack Zac, Angel In White, Delightfulreaction and Thereugo.
Matt Scott, who has recently taken over the preparation of Black Jack Zac from owner John Ellis, who is “a bit sore in the hips,” said the six-year-old with a losing sequence of 42 was a winning chance from the awkward barrier at No. 7.
Black Jack Zac was most impressive last Friday night when he sustained a powerful burst from the rear to finish a half-head second to Alta Rhett.
“He has been racing well from bad draws and his work has been excellent,” said Scott.
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