Gloucester Park Preview Friday 29 November 2024

Captain Ravishing is set to sizzle

“He’s forward; he’s sharp and he’s ready,” declared trainer Jemma Hayman when assessing Captain Ravishing’s prospects in the $31,000 Bathroom Central WA Members Sprint at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

The lightly-raced five-year-old, who will be having his first start for 21 days, is a sprint specialist, having won over 1720m at Melton as a three-year-old (rating 1.52.5), as a four-year-old (1.50.9) and as a five-year-old (1.52.4) as well as winning over 1609m (1.52.5) at Geelong eleven weeks ago.

In February 2023, Captain Ravishing finished second to Catch A Wave (1.49.1) in the 1609m Miracle Mile at Menangle.

Captain Ravishing has drawn awkwardly at barrier five in Friday night’s 1730m event, with Hayman saying: “He will push forward.”

Aiden De Campo will be seeking to win the Members Sprint for the third year in a row, after scoring with Magnificent Storm in June 2022 and June 2023 --- and he is looking forward to the challenge of overcoming the difficult barrier.

In the Members Sprint in 2022 Magnificent Storm began from the No. 4 barrier and De Campo made an unsuccessful bid for the early lead before racing the star pacer in the breeze outside Jumpingjackmac and getting to the front with 300m to travel and winning by 2m from Diego, rating 1.55.2.

Then in the 2023 event Magnificent Storm flew out from barrier four and set a fast pace before winning by five lengths from Ima Fivestar General, rating 1.52.5.

De Campo has driven Captain Ravishing at his two starts in Western Australia. In the 2130m Navy Cup on November 1 Captain Ravishing began fast from barrier five but was unable to cross the polemarker Lavra Joe before racing without cover for 750m and then gaining the one-out, one-back trail and finishing strongly to win by a length from To Fast To Serious, with final 400m sections of 27.9sec. and 28.4sec.

A week later Captain Ravishing began from barrier two on the back line in the 2536m WA Pacing Cup when he raced in sixth position, one-out and two-back, before starting a three-wide run with 1000m to travel. He wilted in the final stages to finish fourth behind Minstrel, Mister Smartee and Mighty Ronaldo.

“I don’t think he is a horse who can come three wide from the thousand,” said De Campo.

Gary Hall jnr, who dove Chicago Bull to victory in the 2020 Members Sprint, will handle Jawsoflincoln for trainer Justin Prentice, who also has Tricky Miki engaged in this week’s race.

Jawsoflincoln’s forte is short distances, having won over 1609m, 1730m twice, 1790m, 1800m eight times and 2070m.

Jawsoflincoln is the only runner on the back line, giving Hall plenty of options. The five-year-old showed his ability as a sprinter when he raced in sixth position and flew home, four wide, from fifth on the home turn to win the 1730m Nights Of Thunder in January this year.

Jawsoflincoln notched his 20TH victory when he led from barrier two and beat Ragazzo Mach by two lengths over 2130m last Friday week when he dashed over the final quarters in 27.1sec. and 27.8sec.

Tricky Miki, who will be driven by Trent Wheeler from the No. 4 barrier, has won four group 1 feature events at Gloucester Park and cannot be underestimated. He led from barrier one and won easily from Lavra Joe over 2536m four starts ago.

Champion reinsman Chris Lewis has been engaged to drive the Greg and Skye Bond-trained Steel Hawk (barrier two) for the first time. Street Hawk has resumed after a spell in good form, with seconds to Soho Down Jones and Skylou at two of his three runs in his current campaign.

Lewis boasts a remarkable record in the Members Sprint, having driven the winner of this event a record eleven times, including four wins with Village Kid.

Champion trainer Gary Hall snr has won the Members Sprint six times, and he will be represented with Wildwest (Emily Suvaljko, barrier seven), Jumpingjackmac (Stuart McDonald, barrier eight) and Diego (Maddison Brown; barrier nine).  

Mister Smartee is ready to go

Star pacer Mister Smartee has trained on well since his second placing to Minstrel in the WA Pacing Cup last Friday week, and his driver Gary Hall jnr is confident he will return to the winning list by outpacing his rivals in the $125,000 North Coast Fibreglass Four-Year-Old Classic at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Mister Smartee, trained by Gary Hall snr, will begin from the No. 4 barrier, with Hall jnr saying: “He should be hard to beat even if he has to race in the breeze. His work has been good.”

Mister Smartee may have to race without cover, with trainer-reinsman Aiden De Campo planning to make every post a winner by setting the pace with the highly promising Sorridere, whose 35 starts have produced 13 wins, nine seconds and four thirds.

Sorridere, who will start from the No. 3 barrier, gave a splendid performance when a half-head second to the pacemaker OK Boomer in the group 3 Four-Year-Old Championship last Friday week. He raced without cover early and then enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and one-back, before finishing with great determination.

Sorridere had won in fine style at his three previous appearances, including the Higgins Memorial and the Pinjarra Four-Year-Old Classic.

“Apart from Mister Smartee, Sorridere has had the measure of all of the other runners in Friday’s race,” said De Campo. “And that’s because he hasn’t met Mister Smartee this time in. He has had all the other four-year-olds covered. He was super last start when he just missed.

“I’d love to lead with Sorridere and give Mister Smartee something to chase. If he sits outside of Sorridere and beats him, so be it.”

Trainer-reinsman Chris Voak said he would be keen to find a good position with Rock Artist, who will start from barrier two. “He went very well when he flooded home to finish fifth behind OK Boomer two weeks ago,” he said.

New experience for Roberts

Brilliant West Australian driver Deni Roberts is excited at the prospect of matching her skills against star Eastern States drivers in the Interdominion Championship series when she sets out on a steep learning curve over the next fortnight.

The 29-year-old Roberts has yet to drive on the three championship series tracks --- Newcastle, Bathurst and Menangle --- and she is preparing to study racing patterns on these tracks which are considerably different to her home course at Gloucester Park.

Roberts will be driving Minstrel and Tenzing Bromac for champion WA trainers Greg and Skye Bond, and she has bright prospects of making a flying start by winning the opening 2030m heat with millionaire pacer Minstrel, who has drawn perfectly at barrier one on Friday night.

“I would love to lead; that’s the plan,” said Roberts after driving trotter Hold That Gold to victory at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night --- her sixth win from her past nine drives. “I’ll be doing my form and will have a lot of homework to do over the next couple of days.

“I’ll be leaving for Sydney on Thursday and will return to Perth the following Thursday after the second set of Inters heats at Bathurst on Wednesday, to drive at Gloucester Park the next night before going back to New South Wales for the final set of heats at Menangle on the Saturday night.

“I have not driven at any of the three tracks over there, but I will be having a couple of drives at Menangle on Saturday night this week to get some experience on that track.

“I know that the corners are a bit sharp at Newcastle.”

Roberts has a career tally of 712 winners, and she excels in races at the 804m circuit at Gloucester Park which has a 143m home straight.

She is such a professional that adjusting to the bigger NSW tracks should not prove a problem. The Newcastle track has a circumference of 931.9m with a home straight of 188.45m; the Bathurst track is 1064.9m around, with a 186m home straight; and the 1400m Menangle track has a considerably longer home straight of 350m.

Positive plan for Atlantic Gem       

Talented young reinsman Kyle Symington is planning positive tactics for Atlantic Gem in a bid to win the opening event, the $21,000 North Coast Fibreglass Neerabup Pace for three-year-old fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

“She was good at her latest start when she sat in the breeze and finished second to Goodtime Louis at Bunbury last Saturday night, and at her previous start she was held up and didn’t get a crack at them when tenth at Gloucester Park,” said Symington.

“So, this week she will be driven positively by going forward (from barrier three) at the start.”

Atlantic Gem, trained by Ryan Bell, has won at only three of her 13 starts, but she has a touch of class as she revealed when she surged home from the rear to finish second to Madam Publisher in the group 1 WA Oaks early in October.

One of Atlantic Gem’s toughest rivals is likely to be Xceptional Arma, who has been a star for Colin Brown’s Banjup stable, amassing $329,198 in prizemoney from 13 wins and 14 placings from 39 starts.

Xceptional Arma will be driven by Maddison Brown and will start from the outside barrier in the field of nine but has the class to overcome this disadvantage. Xceptional Arma also began from barrier nine when she was last in the field of twelve in the middle stages before finishing powerfully to be third behind the pacemaker Nase Vira over 2130m last Friday week.

Colin Brown holds a strong hand in Friday night’s event in which he will also be represented with Coopers Ideal and Relatively Arma.

Coopers Ideal, to be driven by Stuart McDonald from the No. 2 barrier, impressed when she raced without cover before fishing strongly to win by three and a half lengths from Amaretto Angel over 2130m on Tuesday of last week.

Relatively Arma, to be driven by Trent Wheeler from the No. 4 barrier, has proved her worth with five wins and nine placings from 35 starts.

Nase Vira, trained and driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, will have admirers when she starts from barrier five. Nase Vira gave a bold frontrunning display last Friday week when she won by almost six lengths from Heartofahlia to improve her record to 18 starts for five wins and four placings.

Symington is also looking for a strong performance from the Bell-trained Whataretheodds, who will start from barrier six in the Vale Peter Gannon Pace over 2130m.

“If there’s speed on, Whataretheodds will be storming home,” said Symington. Whataretheodds sustained a spirited three-wide burst from sixth in the middle stages to finish a sound fourth behind Golden Lode last Friday night.

Whataretheodds is likely to receive the stiffest opposition from Lamandier, Ragazzo Mach and Star Casino.

Lamandier, to be driven by Gary Hall jnr, is racing keenly and is sure to enjoy starting from the No. 1 barrier, with his trainer Michael Young saying: “We are hoping to lead and are a good chance.”

The New Zealand-bred Ragazzo Mach made an excellent return to racing after a 22-month absence when he trailed the pacemaker Jawsoflincoln and finished solidly to be second to that pacer over 2130m last Friday week.

“I think that first-up run will do him the world of good,” said Ragazzo Mach’s trainer Mike Reed. “He will definitely improve on that run.

Ragazzo Mach is the solitary runner on the back line, with Reed saying: “I’ll leave the tactics up to Shannon (Suvaljko), but I’d say he will come off (the pegs) just to be safe. He’s a good chance.”

Reed also has sound prospects with Montana Glory, who will be driven by Suvaljko from the No. 2 barrier in the 2130m Lori Ki Pace. “Hopefully she will find the front,” said Reed. “Her work has been good, and she will come out blazing.”

Peaceful is sure to prove hard to beat, despite starting from the outside in the field of nine. The Jocelyn Young trained mare had a very tough run when she worked in the breeze before wilting to finish eighth behind Aardiebytheseaside in the group 1 Mares Classic over 2536m last Friday night.