13 June 2022 | Ken Casellas
Talks Up A Storm overcomes a problem
Banjup trainer Murray Lindau was a relieved man at Gloucester Park on Friday night after veteran reinsman Colin Brown had driven Talks Up A Storm to a dashing victory in the group 3 Pure Steel Pace.
“Now that I’ve got him healthy, we’re starting to see what he’s really made of,” said the 67-year-old Lindau, who has endured a worrying time with four-year-old Talks Up A Storm, who was tying up in his races.
“I’m not getting overly excited about future prospects, but we seem to be on the right track. He has had this problem of tying up in races over a fair period of time, as a late three-year-old and an early four-year-old this year.
“He was going roughly in his races, hopping and skipping, and I couldn’t get on top of the problem. I had his bloods done, and Mel McGregor (veterinary surgeon) helped me a fair bit, suggesting what I could try in terms of a change of food.
“I thought that his problem was more to do with his action, but once I started doing more blood tests, I was getting more indicators that he was tying up in his races. So, I revised his workload at home. I had been sending him to the wall too much, even though he ran good time on the training track against the best of Colin’s horses.
“But that was taking its toll, and it was a lesson to me, to re-load and go back to square one. I decreased his workload, which is more controlled now, and instead of asking him (to sprint) 400m to 500m from home, I’m asking him for an effort 200m from home.
“His effort two starts ago when he sat in the breeze and finished fourth behind Pinny Tiger, who rated 1.53.9, was something that I hadn’t seen for a long time. And last week when he started from barrier nine and ran on to finish sixth behind Sound Wave, he recorded the best times over the final 800m (55.73sec.) and last 400m (27.65sec.) in that race.
“So, tonight I thought he was a genuine chance. The circumstances helped, with Palatino putting it to the No. 1 horse (Ezana) helping our cause.”
Talks Up A Storm was a $12.90 chance from the No. 4 barrier, and Brown quickly had him in a position to strike, in the one-out and one-back position, with the $1.55 favourite Ezana setting the pace after a fast lead time of 36.2sec. and being under pressure from the $101 outsider Palatino, who was overracing in the breeze.
Brown saved Talks Up A Storm for a late charge, and the lightly-framed gelding burst to the front in the home straight to race away and win by two and a half lengths from $41 chance Sound Wave, who sustained a spirited three-wide burst from ninth at the bell. Socrates ($8) also finished solidly from the rear to be third, with Ezana wilting to finish eighth.
Talks Up A Storm rated 1.57.5 on the rain-affected track to improve his record to 32 starts for ten wins and eleven placings for earnings of $147,573. The gelding is by American sire Artspeak and is the first foal out of the talented New Zealand-bred Live Or Die mare Typhoon Tan, who won at Gloucester Park at three of her final four starts in August and September 2016 before being retired with a record of 74 starts for 14 wins, 24 placings and stakes of $141,722.
Talks Up A Storm, a $22,000 purchase at the 2019 APG Perth yearling sale, is raced by Lindau’s partner Claire McNaughton and his stepmother Sylvia, and his victory on Friday night gave Brown his second success in the Pure Steel Pace, following his win with Erskine Range in 2015.
Four in a row for American Arma
Four-year-old American Arma continues to flourish under the care of Banjup trainer-reinsman Colin Brown, and she outclassed her rivals in the 2130m Table Bet Tragedy Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
This was her fourth win in a row and further enhanced her prospects in the rich feature events for mares in the coming summer months. Her victory completed a treble for the 63-year-old Brown, who had won the two previous events with Talks Up A Storm and Regal Cheval.
American Arma, a $6 chance from out wide at barrier eight, settled in ninth position in the field of ten, with Brown content to let her relax while the lead time was covered in a quick 35.9sec. which saw the $3.30 favourite Might As Well getting to the front after 400m.
Paroquet ($20) dashed forward to unsuccessfully challenge Might As Well for the lead 1350m from home. Miss Boudica ($6.50) also went forward, three wide, before being restrained back to the rear with 1100m to travel.
American Arma was eighth at the bell before Brown set her alight with a fast three-wide move at the 700m. American Arma assumed the one-out, one-back position for a brief while before Brown urged her forward again, three wide, at the 450m. American Arma sprinted strongly, took the lead at the 250m and raced away to win by just over four lengths from the $3.50 second fancy Miss Lamarr.
American Arma rated 1.57.8 and she is showing signs of developing into an outstanding performer. Her first six starts in late 2020 resulted in five wins and a second placing, and she now boasts a wonderful record of 20 starts for nine wins, seven placings and stakes of $103,040.
She has inherited much of the ability of her dam Arma Xpress, who was a brilliant youngster, with her wins as a two-year-old in 2012 including two group 1 features, the WA Sales Classic and the Golden Slipper, two group 2 events, the Champagne Classic and the Westbred Classic, and the group 3 Gold Bracelet. She raced only 18 times for 12 wins and one placings for $279,890 in prizemoney.
To Fast To Serious is too fast
Talented WA-bred six-year-old To Fast To Serious lived up to his name when he proved far too fast for his rivals when he finished full of running to score an easy victory in the $30,000 Donut Queen Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Driven for the first time by Dylan Egerton-Green, the Shadow Play gelding, the $3.20 second fancy, sped over the final 400m on the rain-soaked track but hard track in 27.8sec. to win by more than a length from the $2.15 favourite Double Up.
To Fast To Serious, trained by Ray Williams, began from the No. 5 barrier in the field of seven, and Egerton-Green made an early decision not to slot the gelding on to the pegs to complete an Indian file which has been the normal racing pattern in small fields.
To Fast To Serious settled down in last place, out one wide. Egerton-Green then gradually eased To Fast To Serious forward in the one-wide line, without cover, before he dashed him past the pacemaker While They Pray with 220m to travel. Double Up, who had led early and then raced behind the pacemaker, fought on doggedly.
“Ideally, I would have preferred to have raced with cover,” said Egerton-Green. “The pace wasn’t overly quick, so I just drove him soft from the breeze and used his turn of foot. And he was quick enough to overpower his rivals. He should keep improving.”
The victory ended a losing sequence of seven for To Fast To Serious, who has earned $226,585 from 17 wins and ten placings from 40 starts. He is out of the McArdle mare Smile With Me who was unsuccessful at her 19 starts in New Zealand before being sent to Western Australia where her first eight starts produced seven wins and one second placing. Smile With Me won at ten of her 21 WA starts before being retired with a record of 40 starts for ten wins, 15 placings and stakes of $80,819.
Luck favours Will I Rocknroll
Seasoned Victorian-bred seven-year-old Will I Rocknroll had luck on his side in the $20,375 Bobs In Town Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Will I Rocknroll, the $2 favourite from the No. 2 barrier, contacted the arm of the mobile barrier in the score-up and broke into a gallop, causing interference to Fifty Five Reborn. This caused a false start.
Then, in the second attempt to get the field of eleven on its way, the polemarker Machs Gold ($10) galloped badly moments after the start, thus enabling Gary Hall jnr to send Will I Rocknroll straight to the front.
Will I Rocknroll, trained by Gary Hall snr, performs at his best when he is able to set the pace, and he gave his supporters very little cause for concern as he bowled along in front, with the $4.80 second favourite Caveman in the breeze.
Will I Rocknroll dashed over the final quarters in 28.9sec. and 28.8sec. and won effortlessly from $8 chance Middlepage, who trailed the leader throughout. Caveman wilted to fourth.
After eleven wins in Victoria Will I Rocknroll has had 31 starts in WA for four wins and four placings to take his career record to 65 starts for 15 wins, ten placings and stakes of $138,882.
Will I Rocknroll’s half-brother Kashed Up (by For A Reason) was a smart winner at Brisbane’s Albion Park on Saturday night when he was driven by Luke McCarthy and led from barrier two and beat Theresachance by a length at a 1.54.4 rate in a $20,770 Free-For-All over 1660m. The four-year-old Kashed Up has earned $195,367 from ten wins and 17 placings from 37 starts.
Kashed Up and Will I Rocknroll are out of the Mach Three mare Laughinglilly, who won at five of her 28 starts — two in New Zealand and three in New South Wales.
Street Hawk unbeaten in WA
New Zealand-bred three-year-old Street Hawk, a winner at two of his six New Zealand starts, remains unbeaten in Western Australia and looks set to develop into a strong candidate for the $200,000 WA Derby on November 4.
He was the $1.80 favourite from barrier five and did all the hard work in the breeze before beating the fast-finishing $5 chance Paul Edward by a head in the 2130m Trevors Getaway Holiday Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
This was the Bettors Delight gelding’s third victory from three WA starts for star trainers Greg and Skye Bond and crack reinsman Ryan Warwick.
Polemarker Free Wheeling ($6) set a fast early pace, with a 36.3 lead time before Jocelyn Young was able to get the filly to relax with opening quarters of the final mile in 31.7sec. and 30.1sec. The third 400m section was covered in a slick 28.1sec. gained the upper hand 400m from home. The final 400m was run in 28.8sec. and Street Hawk fought on determinedly to hold out Paul Edward, who had trailed the pacemaker until getting into the clear on the home turn.
Street Hawk is the fourth foal out of the Falcon Seelster mare Racketeers Girl, who earned $86,545 from eight wins and 14 placings from 54 starts.
Racketeers Girl was bred in New Zealand but did all her racing in Western Australia where her most notable victory for trainer-reinsman Kim Prentice was in the $25,000 Mares Classic Consolation on November 30, 2012, when she was a $31 outsider and beat Centrefold Angel by a head. She returned to New Zealand in 2013 for a stud career.
Majestic Dream reigns supreme
Smart six-year-old mare Majestic Dream enhanced her reputation as one of WA’s best trotters when she scored an effortless victory in the $20,250 Steel Blue Boots Handicap at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Majestic Dream was the $1.95 favourite off the 20m mark in the field of seven, and she was driven with extreme confidence by Lauren Harper.
With One Bid Buys standing flat-footed at the start, frontmarker Tears Of Joy ($5.50) set a slow early pace from outsiders Kell Road Kid ($91) and Malabar Spur ($41), with Harper content to race in sixth position.
When Deni Roberts eased Lightning Calder into the one-wide line after 1000m, Harper quickly angled Majestic Dream off the pegs to take the trail behind that trotter. But soon after that Lightning Calder returned to be four back on the pegs, leaving Majestic Dreamer in the breeze.
Soon after that Morgan Woodley moved the 30m backmarker and $2.75 second favourite Dark Secret off the pegs to take the trail behind Majestic Dreamer, who surged to the front with 4300m to travel and won by three lengths from Dark Secret, rating a slow 2.7.3 rate over the 2530m journey.
Majestic Dreamer, a winner at four of her 39 starts in Victoria, was purchased by Mundijong trainer Karen Bennett last November and now has had 17 starts in WA for eight wins and four placings, including the group 1 Trotters Cup at Gloucester Park in December when she defeated Tears Of Joy and Tricky Ric.
She is by Canadian stallion Majestic Son and is out of Orlandos Dream, a modest Victorian performer who earned $46,750 from nine wins and 14 placings from 76 starts.
Regal Cheval loves to lead
Former Victorian pacer Regal Cheval is at his best when he leads — and when he surged to the front at the start from the No. 2 barrier and headed the polemarker and $3.30 favourite Bettor Be Lively, the seven-year-old’s supporters were on good terms with themselves.
Trainer-reinsman Colin Brown then was able rate the gelding perfectly, even after the $7 chance Euphoria had dashed forward into the breeze after just over a lap had been completed. Regal Cheval, an $11 chance, held on grimly in the final stages of the 2536m event to win by a half-head from Euphoria after final quarters of 28.7sec. and 29.4sec.
Regal Cheval, a winner at ten of his 55 Victorian starts, has now raced 34 times in Western Australia for three wins (all when leading) and eight placings. He is by American sire Artistic Fella and is out of the Canadian D M Dilinger mare Star Cheval, who had 81 starts for six wins, 30 placings and stakes of $39,338.
Egerton-Green’s milestone
Accomplished reinsman Dylan Egerton-Green celebrated his 800TH winner in the sulky in spectacular fashion at Gloucester Park on Friday night when Zephyra flew home from a seemingly impossible position in fourth place at the 100m mark to get up and win the $20,250 Spurs Champion League Pace for two-year-old fillies.
Zephyra, an $8 chance at her first appearance for twelve weeks, began from the outside barrier (No. 8) on the front line, settled in ninth position and was sixth in the one-wide line at the bell.
She improved to be fourth on the home turn and was still fourth at the 100m mark before charging home to win by 2m from Spiritofanangel ($4), with a head to the $2.05 favourite Between Two Thorns in third place.
“I thought that Between Two Thorns had got far enough away and I didn’t really give her a chance of winning,” said the 29-year-old Egerton-Green. “But to Zephyra’s credit, she kept fighting, and the wet track probably helped her.”
Zephyra’s win completed a double for Egerton-Green, who was successful with To Fast To Serious earlier in the night. He maintained his rich vein of form with a double at Northam on Saturday night when he won with General Jolt ($6.50) and Seeryanfly ($1.36). Those four winners have taken Egerton-Green’s tally for the season to 71 wins to be in third place behind Shannon Suvaljko (80) and Gary Hall jnr (77) on the WA drivers’ premiership table.
Between Two Thorns, also resuming after a spell, began from barrier seven and enjoyed an ideal passage in the one-out, one-back position (followed by Zephyra), before Aiden de Campo set her alight and she burst to the front 520m from home.
Between Two Thorns was hailed as the winner when she led by three lengths on the home turn and was still leading by two lengths at the 100m. But she wilted in the final stages.
Zephyra was bred by Northam trainer Jesse Moore and his wife Maree, and they race her in partnership with their daughter Hayley. She is by American stallion Sweet Lou and is the first foal out of Moore’s former champion mare Tricky Styx, who amassed $460,548 in prizemoney from 22 wins and 16 placings from 79 starts.
Maddison Brown lands 200TH winner
Gifted driver Maddison Brown produced a typically cool, confident and calculating performance to land her 200TH winner, scoring a stylish victory in the 2536m Steel Blue Boots Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
She drove with her usual serene elegance to bring $5.40 chance Faster Than Dad home with a well-timed burst to beat $16 chance Pocket The Cash by a length, with $81 outsider Ohoka Titan running on from eleventh at the bell to be a distant third.
The 26-year-old Brown was having her first drive behind Faster Than Dad, a lightly-raced four-year-old prepared by master trainer Gary Hall snr.
Faster Than Dad began from barrier two on the back line, with the $2.20 favourite Master Publisher beginning from barrier four on the front line.
Master Publisher raced three wide early and then in the breeze outside the pacemaker and $4 second fancy Soho Gigolo, with Brown quickly guiding Faster Than Dad into the favourable one-out and one-back position. Master Publisher eventually got to the front 650m from home, but he was a spent force as Brown sent Faster Than Dad into the lead with 370m to travel.
Faster Than Dad is by former champion pacer Alta Christiano and is the third foal out of the Bettors Delight mare Slick Bird, who earned $89,999 from ten wins and nine placings from 34 starts. Faster Than Dad is a full-brother to While They Pray (38 starts for 16 wins, 11 placings and $165,988) and a half-brother to Slick Artist (93 starts for 18 wins, 29 placings and $256,184).
Fater Than Dad looks set for many more wins and improving on his record of six wins, three placings and $34,008 in stakes from 16 starts.
Vivere Damore boosts earnings to $211,714
“Not many mares win $200,000,” declared a beaming proud part-owner and trainer Peter Tilbrook after Vivere Damore had sustained a spirited finishing burst to snatch a dramatic last-stride victory by a head over Angel In White in the $23,750 Carlier WA Adventures Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Tilbrook picked out Vivere Damore at the 2016 Gloucester Standardbred yearling sale and purchased her for $10,000 before syndicating her to several part-owners including her breeder John Coffey, Ray Bastin, Jim Nelson, Reg Phillips, Luke Tabbakh and his mother Leanne Lee.
“I saw her at Coffey’s place and liked the look of her,” said the 50-year-old Tilbrook, who has given her 106 starts for 13 wins, 30 placings and stakes of $211,714.
Vivere Damore is by New Zealand sire Lincoln Royal and is the fourth and final foal out of the Village Jasper mare Living On Love, who was retired after her seven starts as a three-year-old in 2009 produced just one third placing and stakes of $2475.
A highlight of her career has been her victory in the group 2 Christmas Gift in December 2020 when she defeated brilliant pacer Patronus Star. But after that win Vivere Damore experienced a losing sequence of 26 which ended three starts ago when she beat Angel In White and Born To Boogie when she set the pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park.
Quizzed over Vivere Damore’s excellent recent form, Tilbrook said: “There’s no secret for her return to the winning list; It is just a matter of racing luck. Right through her losing sequence her runs were good, good, good. I think she ran only one bad race in that losing run of 26. In all the other races she went really good or had no luck. There were a lot of placings (ten) and top five finishes in those 26 runs.”
Vivere Damore was a $39 outsider from the No. 4 barrier in Friday night’s field of eight runners. Mitchell Miller (27) was having only his third drive behind Vivere Damore, and he gave a patient exhibition in being content to race her in sixth position, one-out and two-back.
Jack Farthing ($5.50) set a modest early pace before increasing the tempo with a third quarter of the final mile in 28.1sec. But he then wilted badly, and Ryan Warwick sent the breeze horse Glenledi Chief ($3.70) to the front 430m from home.
Glenledi Chief quickly established a lead of two lengths, but he faded as Angel In White (who had enjoyed an ideal passage in the one-out, one-back position) got to the front 90m from the post. Vivere Damore, who was switched three wide approaching the home turn, finished solidly and got up to win by a head, with the final 400m in 28.8sec.
“Vivere Damore needed a bit to go right for her to win tonight,” said Miller. “We lobbed in a good spot, behind Angel In White, and we got within a head of that mare half way down the home straight, but Vivere Damore didn’t want to go past her.
“So, I switched to tap Vivere Damore with the whip on the nearside, and she responded and got her nose in front.”
Tilbrook said that he probably would give Vivere Damore one more run before sending her for a spell and then bringing her back to prepare her for the rich feature events for mares in the summer.
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Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
