by Wayne Currall
Chicago Bull’s return to the racetrack earlier this month was nothing short of sensational. The Little Bull returned to the track after his stellar summer – dominant wins in the Group 1 $300,000 Fremantle Cup (2536m) and the Group 1 $450,000 WA Pacing Cup (2936m) – in an unsuitable scamper over the 1730m sprint trip.
He was drawn wide and was taking on race-hardened rivals, some of whom were good frontrunners and were being touted as hard to get over but it all mattered for little when Chicago Bull’s regular driver Gary Hall Jr asked the pony-sized pacer for an effort after the field settled down following the early speed burn. Chicago Bull accelerated so quickly that he went from first to last and took the lead from Erskine Range at the bell lap. A second quarter of 27.5 had his rivals off the bit and chasing hard but the little bloke had plenty in reserve as he led the field home. New World Order and Our Jericho were taking ground off Chicago Bull near the line, but the bird had well and truly flown. It was an outstanding return to the racetrack – the mile rate for the 1730m was 1:53.2, only 0.8 of a second outside of Run Oneover’s track record for the distance – and underlined the raw talent of Chicago Bull.
On Friday night at Gloucester Park Chicago Bull takes on a field of M2-M4 pacers in the $23,000 Buy A Share In A Horse Today With Trotsynd Pace (2130m) and he will be odds-on to take his prize money past the $900,000 mark and lift his splendid record to 20 wins and eight placings from his 32 starts. It’s an imposing record and one that Chicago Bull will certainly add to in the future.
The Chicago Bull drive is just one of many top drives for champion reinsman Hall. He also has excellent prospects of taking home the major end of the purse in the Try Our New Winter Menu at Steelo’s Westbred Pace (2130m) with the much-improved Soho Wall Street. This Glenn Elliott-trained horse has “jumped out of the ground” of late and has now progressed to fast-class ranks. He can win again on Friday night, despite the wide draw.
Junior also has sound each-way prospects in earlier events with Three Blind Mice in the Trotsynd – The Cheapest and Easiest Way to Own a Horse Pace (2130m) and Beaudiene Boaz in the $35,000 Winter Cup (2536m).
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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