by Wayne Currall
Champion trainer Gary Hall Snr will play a strong hand in Friday night’s meeting at Gloucester Park.
The Serpentine-based horseman has a classy band of pacers engaged to race and has realistic prospects of landing at least a double, maybe a treble and possibly a quartet of winners.
The consistent Overboard Again represents the stable in the first race; the Fly Like An Eagle At Allwood Stud Pace (2130m) for the C5-C9 pacers and despite coming from gate eight, this bloke has a terrific each-way chance in an even race. Overboard Again has had two starts this preparation for a first-up win and a gutsy second behind Livura. He could ignite the Hall juggernaut early on in the card
Harry Hoo gets his opportunity to break back into the winners’ circle in the Follow The Stars To The APG WA Sale Pace (2130m), the second race, after drawing the coveted pole. The little Bettors Delight gelding has a good record when he can find the top and he’s capable of giving Clinton Hall an early double after Overboard Again.
The Halls have two runners in the fourth event, the Budget Stockfeeds The Pure Steel Qualifying Heat Three (2130m). Mach Time, who has drawn favourably in gate three returns to the track after a five-month spell and Zach Maguire (12) has been impressive with his two wins at Pinjarra after a four-month break. They are up against Nathan Turvey’s former Kiwi Dana Duke from gate four, who has impressed with two wins from two starts in WA. The consistent Bettor Twisted (2) with champion reinsman Chris Lewis in the bike must also be given a winning chance in this race.
The Ramsay Horse Transport MS Pace (2130m) is the next race on the card and Hall engaged concession driver Lauren Jones to rein Eyre Crusher in the M1-M3 event. The move paid dividends when Eyre Crusher drew the pole. Eyre Crusher has been in great form since returning from an almost two-year absence from the track, with two wins and a last-start second behind the smart Shandale in his five runs. He’ll love the pole and will be favoured to post an all-the-way victory.
The Hall stable then unleash the “big guns” in the Landmark Midvale MS Pace (2130m). Millionaire pacer Beaudiene Boaz and his classy stablemate Run Oneover ($403,093 in stakes) return to the racetrack after their Inter Dominion and WA Pacing Cup campaigns. They join forces with classy stablemate Ohoka Punter (almost a millionaire with more than $986,000 in prize money) in a formidable three-pronged attack on the race.
Their clash with veteran trainer Bill Horn’s in-form comeback pacer Heez On Fire, who has recorded “Black Irish-like finishes” to win at his past two starts since his Inters campaign, promises to be one of the highlights on a star-studded program. Punters will no doubt come hard for Ohoka Punter (Gate 7), Run Oneover (8) and Beaudiene Boaz (9), but it would be unwise to discount the winning chances of Heez On Fire (6) and the Greg and Skye Bond-trained Simply Susational (11).
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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