28 June 2018 | Ken Casellas
Mach Three colt Shockwave has contested two Group 1 events and has finished second on each occasion. He has drawn the No. 2 barrier on the back line in the $100,000 Group 1 Owners Only Westbred Classic for two-year-old colts and geldings at Gloucester Park on Friday night and gets an excellent chance to notch his first victory in a rich feature event.
The clash between Shockwave and the richly-talented Its Rock And Roll promises to be a highlight on the ten-event program.
Its Rock And Roll won the Group 1 Sales Classic seven weeks ago when he defeated Shockwave by a head and last Friday week Shockwave turned the tables on Its Rock And Roll when he finished second to the brilliant New Zealand-bred colt Franco Edward in the Pearl Classic, with Its Rock And Roll finishing third.
They were two of the stand-out youngsters at the 2017 APG yearling sale in Perth when Shockwave was sold for $46,000 and Its Rock And Roll for $37,500.
Shockwave, raced by Kevin Jeavons and Howard King, has won at three of his eight starts for earnings of $49,799. Its Rock And Roll, raced by Liam O’Connor and Jim Currie, has won three times from seven starts for $115,188 in prizemoney. He will start from the No. 5 barrier on the front line on Friday night.
Both two-year-olds performed in grand style in the Pearl Classic when Shockwave (barrier seven) and Its Rock And Roll (nine) settled at the rear.
Shockwave, trained and driven by Ryan Bell, started a three-wide move 1350m from home and impressed in sustaining the strong burst to finish a length from the pacemaker Franco Edward, who dashed over the final three 400m sections in 28.3sec., 28.8sec. and 28sec.
Its Rock And Roll, trained and driven by Colin Brown, ran home powerfully from tenth at the bell to finish third, two lengths behind Shockwave.
Shockwave and Its Rock And Roll have inherited much of their ability from their dams. Shockwave is out of Here For The Money, who earned $81,874 from seven wins and 18 placings from 79 starts and Its Rock And Roll’s dam Miss Worthy Whitby, won at Bathurst, Albion Park and Gloucester Park as a two-year-old before being retired with $40,154 in stakes from three wins and three seconds from 14 starts.
Outstanding trainers Greg and Skye Bond, who prepared Baylan Jett when he finished third behind The Real Ideal and Major Pocket in this event two years ago, are pinning their hopes on the promising Bitcoin, a winner at Pinjarra and Bunbury. Bitcoin is the first foal out of Am Opulent, who earned $269,515 from 18 wins and 24 placings from 85 starts.
The Bond stable will also be represented by $30,000 yearling Sports Central, who has yet to win a race. He will start from barrier three and will be driven by Chris Lewis, who has won this classic event with Johnny Disco in 2015 and The Real Ideal a year later.
To Fast To Serious, a $10,000 yearling, adds considerable interest to the race. He is the only runner in the race who has not appeared at Gloucester Park, but has shown great promise in winning easily at his only three starts two at Bunbury and one at Narrogin for trainer Aiden Warwick and reinsman Aldo Cortopassi. He possesses good gate speed and is favourably drawn at the No. 2 barrier. His dam Smile With Me raced 40 times for ten wins, 15 placings and $80,819 in stakes.
Watch Me React, trained at Collie by Dale Jackson, will be at long odds, despite drawing the coveted No. 1 barrier. He is a last-start winner at Narrogin and won a trial in good style at Pinjarra on Sunday morning.
Watch Me React’s reinsman Trent Wheeler is hoping that history repeats itself. The previous time he drove a pacer from barrier one in a Group 1 event was in 2015 when he was successful with 12/1 chance Once Bitten, who trailed the pacemaker and 10/9 favourite Delightful Jade before getting up to beat that filly in the Westbred Classic for three-year-old fillies.
Oakford trainer Ross Olivieri’s Babyface Adda will start from the inside of the back line and will have admirers. Babyface Adda gave a tough staying performance last Friday night when he worked hard in the breeze before finishing determinedly to win from My Prayer and Sheza Spoilt Miss.
Kyle Harper, successful with the Robert Wood-trained All Aussie Boy in the inaugural running of this classic in 2014, will drive Errol Ashcroft’s consistent Euphoric Moment from barrier eight.
Justin Prentice trained and drove last year’s winner Highroller Joe and he will be in the sulky on Friday night behind Chetak, who has yet to win from ten starts and faces a difficult assignment from the outside of the back line.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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