10 December 2020 | Ken Casellas
Champion trainer Gary Hall Snr is out to buck the odds and hopes to win the $50,000 Lord Mayor’s Cup over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night for a record ninth time.
The master horseman is pinning his faith on the brilliant but inexperienced mare Balcatherine, who faces a stern test from the awkward No. 5 barrier on the front line.
Balcatherine, a New Zealand-bred mare and a winner at nine of her 17 starts, is the least experienced runner in the group 2 event. She possesses excellent gate speed but appears to have very little hope of bursting to an early lead, with fast beginners Argyle Red, Mighty Conqueror and Vampiro drawn inside of her.
Seven of the past eight Lord Mayor’s Cups have been won by the pacemaker, and there is sure to be a keen battle for the early lead on Friday night.
The Lord Mayor’s Cup has been contested 44 times, with only two mares being successful Windy Jean in 1978 and Another One For Me (2012).
Hall has won the Cup with Trickey Bey (1994), Abit Rich (1997), Live To Reign (2007), Talk To Me Courage (2010), Livingontheinterest (2014), Northview Punter (2015), Cyamach (2016) and Chicago Bull (2018). For good measure he has had five second-placed runners — Our London Pride (2000), Aussie Reactor (2012), Im Themightyquinn (2013), Hokonui Ben (2014) and Ohoka Punter (2018).
Balcatherine gave a sample of her class when she produced a superb performance to win the group 1 $125,000 Westral Mares Classic last Friday week. She started from the outside of the back line, was ninth after a lap, made a fast three-wide move 1350m from home to move to the breeze at the 1200m and then surged to the front at the 400m and raced away to win by just under two lengths from Somebeachparty.
She dashed over the final quarters in 27.7sec. and 28.3sec. and rated 1.56.8 over the 2536m journey. That rate is worth comparing with the 1.56.9 recorded by champion pacer Chicago Bull in winning the 2536m Fremantle Cup a week earlier.
Coolup breeder-owner-trainer Phil Costello is seeking another major Cup victory after his hardy eight-year-old Vultan Tin scored an emphatic victory in the $450,000 TABtouch WA Pacing Cup over 2936m last Friday night.
Vultan Tin fared poorly in the random draw and will need another fine display in the sulky from Shannon Suvaljko, who will consider a few options from barrier No. 8 to overcome the disadvantage of the wide draw.
Vultan Tin has the opportunity to become just the third multiple winner of the Lord Mayor’s Cup which was first run in 1966 when Alan Woodworth drove Gendarme to victory over Tiara Court and Cranwell Jack. Chris Voak drove Vultan Tin (barrier two) to an all-the-way victory in the Lord Mayor’s Cup in February 2019. He will drive Im Full Of Excuses (barrier three) for trainer Ross Olivieri in Friday night’s Cup.
The multiple Lord Mayor’s Cup winners are Village Kid (1985, 1986, 1989 and 1990) and Mysta Magical Mach (2009, 2011 and 2013).
Morgan Woodley, who scored with Mysta Magical Mach in 2009 and 2013 after winning with Taihape Tickler in 2006 and Another One For Me in 2012, will drive Pinjarra breeder-owner-trainer Rob Macdonald’s eight-year-old Argyle Red from the prized No. 1 barrier.
The most recent time Argyle Red started from the No. 1 barrier was four starts ago when the gelding set a slow early pace and sprinted over the final 400m sections in 27.7sec. and 27.6sec. to win from Jimmy Mack and Rock Me Over at a 1.57.2 rate over 2130m on November 6.
Leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond hold a strong hand in this week’s Cup with four runners Mighty Conqueror (Dylan Egerton-Green), Vampiro (Colin Brown), Galactic Star (Ryan Warwick) and Our Jimmy Johnstone (Deni Roberts).
The stable’s major contenders should be Mighty Conqueror (ideally drawn at barrier two) and Galactic Star (barrier seven). Mighty Conqueror has bright prospects of returning to the winning list for the first time since he produced a superb staying performance to win the 2936m WA Pacing Cup from stablemates Vampiro and Our Jimmy Johnstone last January.
Mighty Conqueror’s recent efforts have been full of merit and Egerton-Green certainly will be toying with the plan to outpace Argyle Red in the early stages and take up the running.
Mighty Conqueror revealed good gate speed from barrier two in last week’s WA Pacing Cup when he dashed past the polemarker Jack Farthing 120m after the start before Vampiro charged to the front 400m later. Mighty Conqueror was badly hampered for room approaching the home turn before getting clear 150m out, when he ran home solidly to be an excellent third behind Vultan Tin and Chicago Bull.
Up-and-coming four-year-old To Fast To Serious caught the eye in the WA Pacing Cup with his strong burst, out wide, to finish sixth. Aldo Cortopassi is likely to opt out of the battle for the early lead from the No. 6 barrier and look for a prominent position in the one-wide line before asking the WA-bred gelding to produce a strong finishing effort.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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