30 December 2020 | Ken Casellas
Six-year-old mare Always A Dreamer started her career as a pacer before developing into one of the State’s best square-gaiters.
She was bred on pacing lines and her first 18 starts were as a pacer and resulted in one win and five placings before she changed stables and experienced trainer Peter Anderson converted her to race as a trotter.
Thirteen starts as a trotter for Anderson produced three third placings at Pinjarra before Waroona trainer Bob Mellsop took over the preparation of Always A Dreamer, who is a leading candidate in the $50,000 Retravision Trotters Cup, a stand over 2503m at Gloucester Park on Thursday night.
The WA-bred Always A Dreamer has raced 21 times for nine wins, six seconds and three thirds for Mellsop, who will drive her on Thursday night with a strong desire to take advantage of her front-line draw and her favourite role as a pacemaker.
Mellsop certainly will be hoping to repeat the performance of the 2014 Trotters Cup winner, the 5/2 favourite The Beau Brummell, who set the pace for him from the No. 1 barrier and won from Hot Holiday and Prince Eddie.
Always A Dreamer is in splendid form and has impressed with excellent seconds to Princess Mila in mobiles over 2536m and 2130m at Gloucester Park at her past two starts. Those seconds followed successive all-the-way victories over 2692m and 2185m at Pinjarra.
Recent form provides a strong indication that Princess Mila, a five-year-old Victorian-bred mare, is the best trotter in the State. However, she faces a stern test, starting from the 30m mark, after strong wins at each of her past three starts, two of them in mobiles and one when she finished strongly from sixth at the bell to easily beat Dark Secret and Champagne Prince in a 2096m standing-start event in which she began off the 20m mark.
Princess Mila is prepared by champion trainer Gary Hall Snr and will be driven by Gary Hall Jnr, who drove three pacers for Mellsop at Narrogin on Tuesday night for victories with Allwood Wizard and Breanna.
Allwood Wizard and Breanna were bred at the Allwood Stud by Bob Fowler, who also bred and owns Always A Dreamer, whose three siblings to have raced all performed as pacers. They include Compact Rocket, who has had 211 starts in WA for 16 wins, 43 placings and $114,890 in prizemoney.
Hall Snr is looking for his second win in the Trotters Cup. He was successful with the even money favourite Makati Maximus, who led for reinsman Shane Butcher and won the 2013 Cup from Xenon and the Hall-trained Tuhimata Glass, who was driven by Hall Jnr, who is seeking his first success in the Group 1 feature event.
Hall Snr said that Princess Mila had proven to be the best trotter in the State. “But it is never easy to win from 30 metres,” he added. “I’m reasonably confident she will step safely, and if she does, she should fight out the finish. She has begun safely at her past three stands. Always A Dreamer is the main danger. She gets away well, and she’s off the front.”
Busselton owner-trainer Barry Howlett is hoping his four-year-old New Zealand-bred mare Sunnys Little Jestic will emulate the performance of her half-sister Sunnys Little Whiz, who led and won the Trotters Cup from Lightning Calder and Sammy Charles in December 2016.
Sunnys Little Jestic, a winner at eight of her 35 starts, will be driven by Dylan Egerton-Green from the front line. She broke soon after the start and dropped back to last before fighting on gamely to finish second to Tears of Joy in a mobile event on Monday.
Champion reinsman Chris Lewis, who won the Cup with the Ross Olivieri-trained Mr Sundon last January, has given punters an important lead by choosing to drive War Spirit off the 30m mark in preference to the in-form Champagne Prince off 10m.
War Spirit set the pace and won easily from Princess Mila in a 1730m mobile event five starts ago. He has been unplaced at four subsequent starts after having broken gait in three of them.
Nigel Johns, who prepared Compressor (Morgan Woodley) for his victory in the 2009 Trotters Cup, has two runners in this year’s event Dark Secret (10m) and the 40m backmarker Rock Tonight. Johns will handle Dark Secret and Woodley will drive the talented but unreliable Rock Tonight.
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