by Ken Casellas
Veteran pacer Better Than Money bounced back to form with a smart all-the-way victory over 2130m last Friday night and trainer-reinsman Kyle Harper is confident the nine-year-old will give a bold showing in the $23,000 Vale Laurie Kennedy Pace over 1730m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“He’s dropping back to a mile, and a mile is his forte … where he runs his best races,” Harper said. “Yes, it is a step up in class for him, but in terms of a Free-For-All field, it’s not the strongest. He can run a very good time over a mile and I think that, if he jumps to the front, he’ll rattle off a 1.54 which would leave him somewhere in the finish.
“He was very good last week. The previous week (when he led from barrier nine and faded to 11th behind Sprinter over 2130m) he needed the run. He had missed a bit of work because of sore feet, and I expected him to be better at his next start, which he was when he won (beating Quite A Delight).”
Better Than Money, who will be having his 146th start, will begin from the No. 4 barrier in the field of nine and Harper is planning a fast start in a bid for the early lead.
“I think he can cross Americanbootscoota (barrier one),” said Harper, who celebrated his 27th birthday with a winning double last Friday night. “I would like not to have to fire him out too much, but I think he’s got the speed to cross. We won’t be stopping to chat, either which way.”
Chris Lewis, who drove Always Arjay to a thrilling victory at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night to record his 195th driving success for the season on his 62nd birthday, has a high opinion of Americanbootscoota, who has won at six of his past ten starts and is expected to be a firm favourite for Friday night’s race in which he will start from the coveted No. 1 barrier.
He is a good beginner and an excellent frontrunner and Lewis is sure to jump Americanbootscoota to the front and then will weigh up his options — whether to resist the expected challenge from Better Than Money or to take the sit behind that horse and rely on Americanbootscoota’s powerful finish.
Ideal Alice, a freewheeling mare who has won 19 races and has a M11 classification, will start from the outside in the field of nine. A smart all-the-way winner from Vultan Tin over 2536m last Friday week, she faces a stern test from her wide draw.
The Ross Olivieri-trained Jambiani also will need luck after starting from barrier eight. He showed a return to top form last Friday night when he was last in a field of nine at the 300m mark before charging home to snatch victory from Vultan Tin over 2536m.
Olivieri said that luck would play a part in determining the result of Friday night’s race. “I didn’t think Jambiani could win last week,” he said. “But he went terrific and has done well since winning.”
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