Mundijong horseman Kristian Hawkins has laid down the gauntlet to the five geldings and one colt in the 2130m Gannon’s Pacing Colours Pace for three-year-olds at Gloucester Park on Friday night, declaring that his talented filly Mary Catherine had the speed and strength to beat her male rivals.
Mary Catherine will start from the No. 4 barrier and Hawkins aims to make full use of the filly’s sparkling gate speed.
She gave a sample of her ability at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon when she set a scorching pace and held on to win a C0-C1 event by a length from Fay Darling, rating 1.54.5 over the 1684m sprint journey. She led by almost six lengths on the home turn before getting weary in the final stages.
“I was a bit arrogant and left the plugs out — just to see how fast she could go,” Hawkins said. “She did get a little bit tired in the last little bit. But she will benefit massively from that. She’s a tough filly. I knew she was going to overrace, but I was happy to see just how fast she can go. Now I expect her to prove pretty hard to beat on Friday night.
“She has drawn inside El Jacko and Nathans Courage, and that’s a massive advantage. I’m going to be putting them to the sword. She wears a hood all the time and I’ll fit the ear plugs on Friday night.
“I thought that Alfs Odyssey, drawn the pole, could be the early leader, but given how Mary Catherine went on Monday I think they would be silly not to sit on us. I expect there will be a fair bit of pressure and a lot of fireworks early. Yes, I think she can win.”
Mary Catherine, owned by Robert Sheehy, is a brilliant frontrunner who has earned $71,869 from seven wins and seven placings from 17 starts.
“We were throwing it around about going to Sydney for the New South Wales Oaks,” Hawkins said. “We were keen because I thought her run when fourth behind Dodolicious in the Daintys Daughter Classic was on par with the winner, given that she was three deep for more than half the race. And she got knocked over at the top of the straight as well.
“I knew that she was more than capable of being highly competitive in the NSW Oaks. But it was the travel, by air to Melbourne and then having a 12-hour float trip to Sydney that made us decide against the trip. If there had been a direct flight from Perth to Sydney I wouldn’t have hesitated.
“Now we’ve got a few little plans for the filly. Robert wants her to race against the good horses in Australia and if she goes as well as I expect on Friday night she will go to Melbourne for the Victoria Oaks.”
With Hawkins planning to charge forward at the start with Mary Catherine there is certain to be a tremendous tussle for the early ascendancy. Alfs Odyssey is a smart frontrunner who led and won well first-up from El Hombre at Bunbury before finishing second to Nathans Courage over 1730m at Gloucester Park last Friday week.
Johnny Disco, trained at Pinjarra by Harry Ashby, is also a speedy frontrunner and will be fancied from the No. 2 barrier. He reappeared after a seven-month absence at Pinjarra on Monday of last week when he gave a bold frontrunning display to win very easily from New World Order and Gunna Get Lucky at a 1.55.8 rate over 1684m.
Pinjarra trainer Michael Brennan said that Nathans Courage, a winner at five of his nine starts, would be sent forward by Michael Grantham from the outside barrier in the field of six.
“He’s always had blistering gate speed and there’s no real issue that some people perceive that he has issues behind the gate,” Brennan said. “He’s only a baby and is lightly-raced. There’s no real issue.
“He’ll be going forward on Friday night, but it won’t be a case of all guns blazing. He came out under a hold when he led and won last Friday week. There’s no point in chasing him out if he can’t get across. We won’t be gutting him out of the gate this week.”
El Jacko, to be driven by Ryan Warwick for leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, will start from barrier six and looks set to fight out the finish. He reappeared after an absence of almost 11 weeks when he was untroubled to set the pace and won easily from stablemate Donegal Kahlum at a 1.57.7 over 2185m at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon. That was his seventh win from his past eight starts.
The Glenn Elliott-trained Soho Wall Street notched his sixth win from 22 starts when he gave a bold frontrunning display to beat New World Order by five lengths, rating 1.57.7 over 2130m last Friday night. He will start from barrier five and will have plenty of admirers.
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