27 November 2017 | Ken Casellas
Punters hoping to make a flying start to the meeting at Bunbury’s Donaldson Park on Tuesday night should seriously consider supporting Courage To Live in the opening event, the second heat of the International Animal Health Products San Simeon Pace.
There is a lot of exposed form and Courage To Live makes strong appeal despite starting a rank outsider at $89.20 in a Golden Nugget prelude at Gloucester Park last Friday week. From out wide at barrier seven, Courage To Live raced at the rear and then out three wide in the final circuit before finishing tenth behind stablemate Rocknroll Lincoln.
At his previous outing, Courage To Live started from the outside of the back line and raced in seventh position in the one-wide line before he surged forward to be second 500m from home in a 2130m event at Gloucester Park. He hit the front 80m from the post and won stylishly from the 5/2 on favourite and pacemaker Neighlor, rating 1.57.6, with a final quarter in 27.9sec.
Courage To Live will be driven by Justin Prentice, who bred, owns and trains the four-year-old. He will start from the No. 3 barrier on the front line on a track where he has at three of his four starts.
Tuesday night’s race is sure to produce strong support for several runners, including Courage To Live’s smart stablemate Bravo Tex, who is sure to be prominent from the No. 2 barrier, with Tom Buchanan in the sulky. Bravo Tex has raced 12 times at Donaldson Park for four wins and four placings.
Neighlor, to be driven by Shannon Suvaljko for trainer Matt Scott, is handily drawn at No. 4 on the front line. A winner at eight of his 22 starts, Neighlor is showing improvement with every run and now has had 11 starts in Western Australia for six wins and three placings.
Adding considerable interest to the race is the appearance of the Michael Brennan-trained Mista Shark, who will be driven by Michael Grantham from the outside (No. 7) on the front line.
Mista Shark is a winner at ten of his 21 starts, including his past five outings, four of which have been in stands. He gave an outstanding performance at Donaldson Park at his most recent appearance. He galloped off the 40m mark and settled last, 12 lengths from the early leader. He accelerated quickly with a sparkling three-wide burst after a lap to burst to the front with 1400m to travel. He went on to score convincingly.
Tyler Brett, Fanci A Dance, Twentynine Twelve and Chuck Norris have all been racing with plenty of enthusiasm and will have admirers in Tuesday night’s race.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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