Eighteen Carat ready to sparkle
Michael Young will be the busiest trainer at Gloucester Park on Friday night with six runners, and he is bubbling with confidence that Eighteen Carat will shine at her return to racing after an absence of 18 weeks.
The New Zealand-bred Eighteen Carat has recovered from a knee fracture she received on her winning Australian debut, at Gloucester Park on March 18, and the only negative surrounding her comeback appearance is that she will start from the inside of the back line in the group 3 Retravision Lewis Pace.
“I would have taken any barrier, even the outside of the front line, in preference to the inside of the back line,” said Young. “So, obviously, Junior (Gary Hall jnr) will have to weave a bit of magic early.
“However, I’m still super confident, and if she gets beaten it will be because of the barrier. Eighteen Carat is working as good as any horse I have put a bridle on. She is a really smart mare and I think she will progress to be one of the better mares in the State.”
Eighteen Carat will start immediately behind the polemarker Stormyskyes, who has led and won in modest company from barrier one four times. But she has also started from the No. 1 barrier on three other occasions when she has been restrained to take a sit.
Young is anxious that Eighteen Carat will be able to ease off the inside as soon as possible after the start of Friday’s 2130m event and move forward into a prominent position.
Eighteen Carat, a winner at five of her 38 New Zealand starts, arrived in Western Australia in late January this year and impressed at her WA debut when she started from barrier four, raced in the breeze for 900m before taking the lead and winning by a length from the fast-finishing Booraa, despite hanging out throughout. She dashed over the final 400m in 28.6sec. and rated 1.56.4 over 2130m.
“After the race she had a fracture in a knee,” said Young. “It was just a slight fracture which didn’t require surgery, and all she needed was time to recover.”
Looming large as Eighteen Carat’s main dangers are the Annie Belton-trained pair of Lady Zegna and Lady Jadore, each of whom have been driven by Hall for their last-start wins at Gloucester Park.
Four-year-old Lady Zegna will be driven by Kyle Symington from a favourable barrier at No. 3, while Chris Lewis will drive Lady Jadore from out wide at barrier No. 7.
Lady Zegna has been most impressive this year in her first season of racing, with her eight starts producing five wins, a second, a third and a fourth placing.
She gave a dazzling performance at Gloucester Park on Tuesday of last week when she was eighth in a field of eight at the bell before flying home with a sizzling burst to win easily from Benji. She sprinted over the final 800m in 56.02sec. and the last 400m in 27.7sec. --- by far the fastest sectionals recorded at the meeting.
On the same program, Lady Jadore notched her seventh win from 21 starts with an effortless victory when she began with a supercharged burst from the outside of the front line (barrier nine) to surge to the front after 100m and then set the pace on the way to beating The Amber Hare by two lengths.
Zephyra set to sprint home
Banjup trainer Dylan Egerton-Green has taken over the training of classy filly Zephyra, and he declared: “I think she will be in the mix in Friday night’s race.”
Zephyra is awkwardly drawn at barrier six in the opening event, the 2130m Noah George Race Night Pace, and Egerton-Green is likely to rely on her excellent sit-sprint ability.
“This is a nice field, and Zephyra is a good sit-sprinter, a trait of her mother Tricky Styx,” said Egerton-Green, who has driven the filly at her three starts, for a debut third at Northam, followed by fast-finishing victories at Gloucester Park at her next two starts.
Egerton-Green said that owner-trainer Jesse Moore had offered him the opportunity to train Zephyra because he had a problem with not having horses to work with the filly at Northam. “She needed to be able to work with other horses to assist with her education,” said Egerton-Green.
“I have had her for two weeks, and she is learning every time she goes around. Sometimes she doesn’t know exactly what her job is.”
The Mike Reed-trained Cabsav should appreciate the No. 1 barrier and Shannon Suvaljko is sure to be keen to take full advantage of the prized draw. Cabsav raced in the breeze for much of the way when a fighting second to Wanea on Tuesday of last week.
Wanea, reappearing after a four-month absence and at her first start for her new trainer Chris Voak, began speedily from barrier five and did well to hold out Cabsav at the finish. She faces a stern test this week from barrier No. 9.
Gnangara trainer Luke Edwards is hoping for strong efforts from his two runners, Lucienne (barrier two) and August Moon (three). Lucienne will be driven by Emily Suvaljko, and Gary Hall jnr will handle August Moon.
Lucienne finished strongly to win at Pinjarra on January 24 before having a break She resumed at Gloucester Park last week when she raced at the rear and finished fourth in the field of five behind Wanea. August Moon shows good promise, and she is overdue for a change of fortune after finishing second at her past four starts.
“August Moon will turn her four seconds into a win one day, when she gets to the front,” said Edwards. “She hasn’t been able to lead in a race yet, but she is learning and earning and getting closer to a win.”
August Moon warmed up for Friday’s race with a strong run in a 2150m Byford trial on Sunday morning. She settled in last place in the field of five, dashed forward to the breeze at the bell and took the lead at the 600m before finishing second to Velocipede.
Lucienne began speedily and set a modest pace before sprinting over the final 400m in 28.8sec. when she scored an easy win in a 2150m trial at Byford on Sunday morning.
Edwards also has two runners --- Leap Of Faith (Kyle Harper) and Texas Tara (Gary Hall jnr) --- in the Michael Young Pacing Pace over 2130m. But they are awkwardly drawn at barriers six and seven, respectively, and are sure to meet with stiff opposition from the five horses drawn to their inside.
The Barry Howlett-trained nine-year-old Fanci A Dance has a losing sequence of 12, but he is racing with admirable heart and his placings at his past two starts, behind Valbonne and Alta Rhett, are pointers to a strong performance.
Blissfullabbey (barrier one), Pocket The Cash (two) and Rupert Of Lincoln (four) will also have many admirers. Blissfullabbey caught the eye last Friday night when she finished solidly from fifth on the pegs at the bell to be third behind smart mares Savvy Bromac and Angel In White.
Rupert Of Lincoln, prepared by Ross Olivieri, also is getting close to a win, following his good third behind Heez Our Perseus and Shadow Roll last week after working hard in the breeze.
Vespa’s final fling
New Zealand-bred six-year-old Vespa has been a wonderful moneyspinner for his team of owners, earning $145,476 from his nine wins and 18 placings in Western Australia, and trainer Michael Young has high hopes the Mach Three gelding will bow out as a winner at his final appearance in Australia.
Vespa has been sold to American interests and, barring unforeseen circumstances, he will be racing for the final time before leaving for the United States when he starts from barrier No. 3 in the 2130m Matty Joss Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with Gary Hall jnr in the sulky.
“I’d love to see him go out as a winner,” said Young. “I’ve been told that the plane will leave Perth at the end of next week or in the first week of August.
“I am pretty confident he will cross The Kraken (barrier one), and if he finds the front, he will be near on unbeatable. He has got plenty of gate speed when you light him up.”
Vespa is one of six runners from Young’s Mundijong stable who will be racing at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with the best winning chances of the other five being Moonlite Drive and Eighteen Carat.
Moonlite Drive should prove to be the best bet of the night. He will start from the No. 1 barrier in the 2536m Jim’s Test And Tag Pace, and Hall will be looking for an all-the-way victory.
Moonlite Drive worked hard in the breeze when a fighting second to the pacemaker Dominus Factum over 2130m last Friday night. That followed an all-the-way 2536m Gloucester Park win from Stamford and Markham Eyre and a tough effort when he raced in the breeze and dead-heated for first with Vulcan Star over 2242m at Narrogin.
Young also is confident that his one runner at Narrogin on Friday night --- Cooper, to be driven by Joseph Suvaljko, will be successful. The Mach Three four-year-old will start from 50m (virtually 40m, with the sole front-line runner starting off 10m).
“I’ll be surprised if Cooper doesn’t win,” said Young. “I’ve got a degree of confidence this week. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
Machs Gold gets his chance
It’s a race for seasoned oldstagers. That’s the final event, the 2130m Team Bond Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with reinsman Dylan Egerton-Green giving Machs Gold a sound chance of winning and ending a losing sequence of 14, which includes unplaced efforts at his past 11 starts.
Machs Gold, trained at Byford by Karen Thompson, has drawn the prized No. 1 barrier in the field of nine which has amassed a combined total of 1122 starts for 114 wins.
Machs Gold has begun from the No. 1 barrier eight times in his 92-start career with mixed fortune.
The most recent occasion he started from the No. 1 barrier was four starts ago when he galloped soon after the start, raced at the rear and finished last behind Will I Rocknroll on June 10 this year. He has led and won twice from the No. 1 barrier, at Ballarat in March 2020 and at Gloucester Park in January this year when he beat Regal Scribe. He has also finished second twice (behind Taroona Bromac and Vespa) after starting the barrier one.
“This is an ideal draw, and he is looking to return to form,” said Egerton-Green. “He has been racing without luck, and his recent work has been a lot better. So, I think he is a good chance.”
Machs Gold’s toughest opponent appears to be Naval Aviator, who will start from the No. 2 barrier and will be driven by his trainer Corey Peterson at his second appearance after a brief let-up.
Naval Aviator was an odds-on favourite last Friday night when he started from barrier one and set the pace before fading to finish sixth behind Louie the Lip. He ruined his chances by racing fiercely. If Peterson can get him to race more tractably, he is sure to prove hard to beat.
Egerton-Green is also looking for a strong first-up showing from Maungatahi, who will start from the No. 1 barrier in the 2536m Summit Bloodstock Pace for three-year-olds.
“It is a handy field, but Maungatahi has raced these horses before and has done well,” said Egerton-Green. “He is working well and should run a pretty good, honest race, like he usually does. So, I can’t see whey he won’t do it again.”
Maungatahi won twice as a two-year-old and he has been placed at three of his five starts as a three-year-old. He has had a spell since he started from barrier one and led early in the group 3 Caduceus Club Classic on March 11 before took the sit behind the speedy The Miki Taker and fought on gamely when third behind Swingband and The Miki Taker.
The speedy Speedwagon, Linebacker and back-line runners Goodffellaz and Noted appear to be Maungatahi’s main rivals.