Proven stayer Norvic Nightowl is poised to make a winning debut at Gloucester Park by proving too strong for his rivals in the $25,000 Westralian Marathon Handicap on Friday night.
The New Zealand-bred five-year-old has not been extended in winning at his first two appearances in Western Australia — in stands over 2560m at Northam on June 30 and over 2116m at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon.
He will start off the 20m mark in the 3309m Marathon for champion trainer Gary Hall sen. and star reinsman Gary Hall jun. who have combined to win this event with Im Themightyquinn in 2010 and Code Red in 2012.
Norvic Nightowl warmed up for the Marathon in most impressive style on Monday when he started off 30m before he charged forward in the first circuit to burst to the front after 600m. He then bowled along in front and sprinted brilliantly over the final 400m in 27.3sec. to beat Znana by four lengths at a 2min. rate.
He gave a sample of his ability at his final appearance in New Zealand, in the 3000m Tauranga Cup on the grass track at Cambridge on January 25 this year. He started from 30m in the event run in a clockwise direction and was at the rear in the field of 16, giving the pacemaker Shestherealdeal a massive lead of 35 lengths with 2000m to travel.
Soon after that he then made a fast move and surged to the front 600m from home. He held the lead until the final 150m where frontmarker The Bucket List hit the front after enjoying the one-out, one-back trail. Norvic Nightowl then wilted in the final stages to finish fourth.
Earlier in his career Norvic Nightowl had won three times in stands over 2700m. He has now raced 51 times for 14 wins and 13 placings for earnings of $144,975.
It is interesting to note that the Hall camp has put all its eggs in one basket, opting to rely solely on Norvic Nightowl in the Marathon after withdrawing Elegant Christian, Classic American, Northview Punter and Dashing Christian before acceptance time on Tuesday.
The field for this year’s Marathon is extremely well balanced and punters are sure to support many of the runners in what should be an open betting race. Chief Thundercloud, a tough stayer and a standing-start specialist, is a wonderfully consistent performer for Oakford trainer Ross Olivieri and reinsman Chris Lewis and looks set to fight out the finish. He will start off 20m.
Olivieri and Lewis combined to win the Marathon in 2009 when 3/1 equal favourite Nickelmeldon set the pace and defeated Winter Retreat and Speed Monster.
Danieljohn, Dardy Delight and Rocky Marciano, who share the 10m mark, have been racing keenly and deserve respect.
Kristian Hawkins has been granted a stay of proceedings in order to drive Danieljohn, who maintained his excellent form last Friday night by finishing powerfully from ninth at the bell to be second to the brilliant Elegant Christian in a 2902m stand. Later in the program the stewards found Hawkins guilty of causing interference to Classic American in the Porter Memorial and he was suspended for 19 days.
Rocky Marciano sustained a spirited three-wide burst from the rear to finish fourth behind Elegant Christian last week and Dardy Delight was an encouraging fourth behind Condrieu in a 2536m mobile event last Friday night. Dardy Delight’s trainer-driver Justin Prentice was successful in the 2011 Marathon with Glacier Star, who got up in the final stride to snatch a head victory from the pacemaker Move Over.
Eleven-year-old Rocket Reign, who started from 40m and at 10/1 when he finished boldly from eighth at the bell to win last year’s Marathon from This Time Dylan, will start from 30m for Wanneroo trainer Debbie Padberg on Friday night. This Time Dylan, who started off the 40m mark 12 months ago, is the lone backmarker off 40m this year.
Michael Brennan, who trains This Time Dylan, will also be represented by frontmarker Waltzing With Cullen, a consistent six-year-old who will be driven by Michael Grantham. Waltzing With Cullen has a losing sequence of 27, but he has been placed at 16 of those starts, including eight placings from his past 11 outings. He is capable of causing a boilover.
Another Brennan runner is frontmarker Awesum Teddy, who gave a sound performance when third behind Elegant Christian and Danieljohn last Friday night.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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