The superb, all-conquering father-son combination of champion trainer Gary Hall sen. and champion reinsman Gary Hall jun. is poised to continue its domination of the Retravision Fremantle Cup by winning the $300,000 group 1 feature event at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
They combined to win the 2536m Fremantle Cup 12 months ago with 5/4 favourite Beaudiene Boaz, but the 34-year-old Hall jun. has given punters a powerful lead by electing to drive Chicago Bull in preference to his classy stablemate, who has amassed $1,210,734 in prizemoney from 24 wins and nine placings from 43 starts.
Chicago Bull will start from barrier four, with Beaudiene Boaz at No. 5. Last Friday night Beaudiene Boaz led from barrier two and won the Village Kid Pace by a head from the fast-finishing Chicago Bull, rating 1.55.3 over 2130m, with a final 800m in a sparkling 55.4sec.
The Halls have won six of the past 15 Fremantle Cups and they are confident that Chicago Bull has the class to give them their seventh success in the big race. For good measure, Hall jun. has also won a Fremantle Cup with the Michael Brennan-trained Im Victorious in January 2014.
“Barriers four and five are tricky draws and I’d say that both Chicago Bull and Beaudiene Boaz will go forward at the start,” Hall sen. said.
“Beaudiene Boaz was good when he won last week. A 36.4sec. lead time was good, coming off a three-week break, and he fought it out right to the line. I felt that Chicago Bull was never going to beat Beaudiene Boaz, particularly after there was no great mid-race pressure.
“But I’m favouring Chicago Bull over Beaudiene Boaz in this week’s Cup because I think he’s better suited over the longer 2536m journey.”
Clint Hall, the trainer’s elder son, will handle Beaudiene Boaz this week. Clint Hall drove My Hard Copy when he finished strongly to be a half-length second to Beaudiene Boaz in last year’s Fremantle Cup.
The Fremantle Cup has been run 87 times and Chicago Bull will become only the third four-year-old to win the race if he succeeds on Friday night. Hall jun. was 19 and became the youngest driver to win the Fremantle Cup when he guided The Falcon Strike to victory over Big Town Walton in the 2002 Cup.
The Falcon Strike was the first four-year-old to win a Fremantle Cup, and last year Beaudiene Boaz was the second four-year-old to win the race.
The Falcon Strike then won the Fremantle Cup in 2004 and the Halls went on to win the Cup with Im Themightyquinn three years in a row after that pacer had finished third as a four-year-old behind Power of Tara in 2009. Im Themightyquinn failed by a head to win the Fremantle Cup four years in a row when he was beaten by Dasher VC in 2013.
Hall jun. said that it wasn’t a particularly difficult decision to take the drive behind Chicago Bull this week — even though he had handled Beaudiene Boaz in 35 of his 36 starts in Western Australia for 20 wins and eight placings. Clint Hall has driven Beaudiene Boaz only once — for a win in the Bunbury Cup in November 2015 when his brother was unavailable.
On the other hand, Hall jun. has driven Chicago Bull at 19 of his 21 WA starts for 13 wins and six placings.
“I thought Chicago Bull was good but not great in the Golden Nugget (when third to Soho Tribeca and Nathans Courage two starts ago),” said Hall jun. “His work since has been really good and I just think he’s more versatile than Beaudiene Boaz.
“I think that Chicago Bull, with a bit of luck, can win from anywhere. But Beaudiene Boaz probably has to be right up there or in front. He just hasn’t got that turn of foot at the moment.”
The Kim Prentice-trained Soho Tribeca, like Chicago Bull, is an up-and-coming four-year-old whom Prentice is hoping will give him his second success in a Fremantle Cup, after scoring with Baltic Eagle in 2003.
Soho Tribeca, who will start from the No. 6 barrier on the front line, will be making his first appearance for a month. His many admirers point to the fact that he has beaten Chicago Bull twice in his past four starts — when he led and defeated Franco Rayner and Chicago Bull over 2185m at Pinjarra on November 7 and when he dashed to the lead 600m after the start and went on to win easily from Nathans Courage and Chicago Bull in the 2536m Golden Nugget at his latest outing, on December 9.
Ten of the 12 runners in Friday night’s Cup were bred in New Zealand, the exceptions being the Australian-bred Mynameskenny and Soho Tribeca. New Zealand-bred pacers have won ten of the past 11 Fremantle Cups and 14 of the past 16.
Byford trainer John Oldroyd is excited at the prospect of Mynameskenny contesting the big race on Friday night. The WA-bred five-year-old has drawn perfectly at barrier one on the front line and reinsman Chris Voak should have the stallion in a prominent position throughout the race.
Mynameskenny has won at 21 of his 41 starts and he impressed two starts ago when he sprinted home strongly to win convincingly from Cyamach and Waylade over 2130m at Gloucester Park. He raced in the one-out, two-back position when fifth behind Beaudiene Boaz last Friday night.
“I’m very happy with the draw,” Oldroyd said. “We’ve got options now. We’ll probably prefer to hand up to the best horse in the race, but we’ll just see what happens. He ruined his chances when he pulled fiercely in last week’s race. For some reason he got fired up after being used up out of the gate. We plan to drive him a bit more quietly this week.
“It’s a Hunter Cup field, in my opinion. It’s a super field and Mynameskenny is the new kid on the block. The other horses have been around in this company for a few years, whereas he has had five starts in this company.
“So, it’s going to be hard; it’s like someone playing in the AFL after having played five games — and lining up against others who have played 200 games. The main thing is if he can finish top four which should guarantee him a start in next week’s WA Pacing Cup.”
Champion reinsman Chris Lewis, fresh from notching his 5000th winner at Bunbury’s Donaldson Park last Saturday night, will be looking to win the Fremantle Cup for the seventh time — after successes with Black Irish (1983), Village Kid (1988 and 1989), John Albert (1995), Sandy Bay (2005) and Dasher VC (2013).
He has opted to drive John of Arc for trainer Clive Dalton in preference to tough stayer Our Jericho.
John of Arc, a winnehallr at 18 of his 34 starts, is handily drawn at barrier two on the back line and is capable of a bold effort. Our Jericho will be driven by Morgan Woodley from the favourable No. 2 barrier on the front line.
Our Jericho’s trainer Ross Olivieri has won the Fremantle Cup with Speedy Cheval (1991) and John Albert (1995) and Woodley drove David Hercules to victory in January 2015.
Talented New Zealand pacer Franco Nelson will be driven by Ryan Bell for trainers Greg and Skye Bond and there is a strong chance that he will be able to dash to an early lead and set the pace. Greg Bond prepared Money Magnet for his Fremantle Cup victory in 2006.
The powerful Bond stable will also be represented in Friday night’s race by the wonderfully consistent Our Jimmy Johnstone (barrier seven) and Delightful Offer (eight). Ryan Warwick will drive Our Jimmy Johnstone and Nathan Turvey has been engaged for Delightful Offer.
The only mare in the race is the Justin Prentice-trained Major Reality, who faces a stern test from the outside of the back line. The only mares to have won a Fremantle Cup in the past 42 years are Golden Gears (2000) and Whitbys Miss Penny (1992).
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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