And this time, star pacer Magnificent Storm (American Ideal) proved his ability to come back after playing with the pitch and recording an easy victory.
He was started in his usual excellent style by trainer Ray Williams. Short-priced favorite Magnificent Storm showed blistering speed from barrier four to beat speedster Lavra Joe and from then on the race was never in doubt.
His cause was helped immensely by Emily Suvaljko’s driving tactics on Penny Black, who had secured a one out and two back early on. Once she was in that position, she charged around the field expecting to be outside the leader. But Deni Roberts on Justcallmemiki had other ideas to ensure Penny Black would stay three wide. Then Penny Black was moved back to the back but all chances were then lost and she only defeated two at home.
BEAUTIFUL STORM DEC 5 REPETITION
Magnificent Storm started to pull away down the back straight and at the end he was just under 19 meters ahead of Hillview Bondi and Little Darling, both of whom battled on without ever appearing to trouble the winner. Magnificent Storm ran his last quarter in 27.1 seconds and recorded a kilometer speed of 1.53.6.
Despite having his colors lowered at last week’s Brennan Cup, Aiden De Campo was confident Magnficent Storm would bounce back.
I knew he would do that, he is a super horse. He hadn’t raced this fast in almost three years. Many of his wins this time involved running forward and running home in 26. Taking care of him and increasing his self-confidence. That 2500 ripping off his arm like that and running those times, if anything, only made him better. Ray knew this would be the case.
When he pulled up after running the way, he pulled a little big across the back with a high heart rate. Ray knew he had to come by this week. He made the right decision. I think he will only get better from there. So all roads lead to next week.
So now Magnificent Storm will be back to compete in the Group 1 $450,000 Western Australia Pacing Cup this Friday, where he will likely compete against the mighty Minstrel, Mister Smartee, Waverider and Never Ending, to name a few.
It was certainly a memorable evening for De Campo, who bagged three other winners. Bettor’s Arcade (Bettors Delight) finished strongly to close out the opening event, after which Magnus Victor (Sweet Lou) finished too solid for his rivals despite racing three wide on the final lap. In the final event, Amalfi Knight (Capt Midnight) defeated Cease to React in the two-year pacers event.
By Tony Milanese for Harnesslink
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