Mark Reed handed punters a valuable tip when he opted to drive Bettor Party in preference to Im Riddick in the Gannon’s Fred Doy Memorial Pace, a stand over 2503m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
He has driven both pacers in recent weeks and decided to handle the Eric Chabros-trained Bettor Party ahead of Im Riddick, who is prepared at Henley Brook by his father Mike Reed.
Im Riddick, who will share the back mark of 20m with Copagrin and Mapua Legend, will be driven by Chris Lewis. Bettor Party will begin off the 10m line.
Reed drove Im Riddick when the seven-year-old showed a welcome return to form at Gloucester Park last Friday night. Im Riddick settled down in ninth position before Reed sent the gelding forward with a three-wide burst after 950m to move to the breeze 1350m from home. Im Riddick fought on with great determination to finish a half-head second to the pacemaker Gallileo in the 2503m stand.
Reed has driven Im Riddick at six of his past seven starts for three seconds. Lewis has handled Im Riddick in seven of his 57 starts for three wins, two seconds, a fourth and a seventh. Im Riddick is a proven standing-start performer with seven wins in stands.
Lewis has a splendid record in the Doy Memorial, a race which has been run over a variety of distances and generally from a mobile start. He has been successful with Tee Pee Village (2008), Smooth Hayley (2009) and Sneakyn Down Under (2013). All three pacers set the pace.
Reed has enjoyed plenty of success with Bettor Party, a West Australian-bred gelding who has raced 86 times for 15 wins and 24 placings. He has handled the six-year-old 14 times for four wins, four seconds and two thirds.
Greg and Skye Bond, last season’s leading WA trainers, hold a strong hand in Friday night’s race with New Zealand-bred five-year-olds Swimbetweentheflags (front) and My Good Deed (10m).
Swimbetweentheflags, to be driven by Ryan Warwick, is in good form, with his past five starts producing an all-the-way win in a 2503m stand and three minor placings. Swimbetweentheflags galloped for a few strides in a stand last Friday night before trailing the pacemaker Gallileo. He was hampered for room in the closing stages and was an unlucky third to Gallileo and Im Riddick.
He finished strongly when second to Our Ideal Act in a 2631m stand at Pinjarra four days earlier and led when a fighting third to Machtu in a 2503m stand at Gloucester Park ten days before that.
My Good Deed has failed to flatter at his first two outings after a spell, but he is a proven standing-start performer capable of significant improvement.
Copagrin, a smart performer with a record of 77 starts for 16 wins, 17 placings and $186,552 in prizemoney, will resume after a three-month absence for West Swan trainer John Guagliardo and from 20m he is capable of a bold first-up showing. He warmed up for this race in fine style with a strong second to the classy Condrieu in a 2150m mobile trial at Byford on Sunday morning when the final 400m was covered in 27.9sec.
Adding further interest to the race will be the appearance of Glow Bright for Pinjarra trainer Dudley Parker. The gelding, who will start off 10m, ended a losing sequence of 25 when he raced three wide without cover for much of the 2277m journey and finished stoutly to win the Williams Cup from Suzies Gem and Go Sailing On on Sunday afternoon.
Glow Bright will give Woodley a chance to win the Doy Memorial for the second time. Woodley drove 16/1 chance Alby Albert when he dead-heated for first with Puhinui Rainbow in 2012.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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