by Ken Casellas
Tendon injuries have blighted the career of New Zealand-bred Eyre Crusher. But perseverance is paying dividends and the six-year-old looks set to complete a hat-trick of wins since resuming after an absence of 23 months by proving the master of his ten rivals in the $23,000 Retravision Pace at Gloucester Park on Thursday night.
Nursed back to fitness by premier trainer Gary Hall sen., Eyre Crusher has not been extended in winning at his first two outings after his lengthy lay-off.
Gary Hall jun. will be in the sulky when Eyre Crusher starts from the No. 4 barrier on the front line in Thursday night’s 2130m event. The son of Ohoka Arizona won at each of his final three starts (in April 2015) before breaking down with a bowed tendon. A win this week will extend his winning sequence to six and improve his record to 17 starts for ten wins, five seconds and a third.
The most recent time Eyre Crusher tasted defeat was when he finished a close second to Three Blind Mice in the WA Derby early in April 2015.
Last week Eyre Crusher started from the back line and settled in sixth position before Hall jun. sent the gelding forward in the first circuit to race in the breeze. Eyre Crusher took the lead 500m from home and went on to win from the fast-finishing Sheer Rocknroll, with the final 800m taking 56.1sec.
Leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond will be represented by polemarker Condrieu and Vanquished and both pacers should be prominent. Ryan Bell is likely to take full advantage of the No. 1 barrier by attempting to jump straight to the front and set the pace.
Condrieu has a losing sequence of 12, but is getting close to notching his 19th victory. At his latest outing, three Fridays ago, he enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and one-back, before fighting on to be a close third behind Bettors Fire and Bronze Seeker over 2130m.
The consistent, lightly-raced Vanquished has resumed after a spell in splendid form. He followed his solid first-up second to Franco Rayner over 2130m at Gloucester Park with an extremely close third behind Lisharry and Shardons Rocket over 2185m at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon. Vanquished was sixth at the bell and followed Lisharry’s three-wide run to finish powerfully.
The Peter Anderson-trained Lisharry was fifth in the one-out, one-back position at the bell and he finished with typical zest to get up and snatch a last-stride victory by a head from Shardons Rocket, with a nose to Vanquished in third place. The final 800m was covered in 56.3sec.
Lisharry (Michael Grantham) will start from the No. 2 barrier on Thursday night and he, Condrieu, Vanquished, Franco Rayner and Foxy Dame all have sound place prospects.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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