Mister Versace started a rank outsider as a $93.90 chance at his latest appearance when a sound fifth behind star New Zealand mare A Piccadilly Princess last Friday week. But he will be at a much shorter quote when he starts from the prized No. 1 barrier in the Westbred Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Trained at Banjup by Annie Belton, Mister Versace warmed up for this week’s assignment with a dashing win in a nine-horse trial at Byford on Sunday morning when he sprinted over the final quarter in 28.2sec. and beat Snowball Mackenzie by eight lengths.
At his most recent outing the four-year-old, with Kim Prentice in the sulky, raced four back on the pegs in seventh position before finishing solidly into fifth place. A week earlier he trailed the pacemaker Trustytrev and ran home powerfully to finish second, a half-head from Trustytrev, with final quarters of 28.6sec. and 27.7sec.
That followed his fast-finishing victory by a head over Chelsea Royale four days earlier.
Eight-year-old Trustytrev again looms as one of Mister Versace’s main rivals. Trustytrev, a winner at ten of his 89 starts, is trained at Byford by Chris Feast and will be driven by Nathan Turvey. He will start from the No. 5 barrier.
Trustytrev followed his recent Gloucester Park win with a solid performance in the 2277m Williams Cup on Sunday afternoon when he set the pace and finished second to Scoobys Delight.
Soho Wall Street, Mako Shadow and Argyle Red are in sound form and will have admirers. Soho Wall Street, trained by Glenn Elliott, has resumed after a spell in good shape, with two thirds and a fourth from, four starts, while the Clint Kimes-trained Mako Shadow and Argyle Red, trained at Pinjarra by Robert MacDonald, will pay to follow.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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