Although the draw appeared to have fallen for Minstrel with an ideal position on barrier two, the question was whether he would be able to lead or chase down his nemesis Magnificent Storm, who was in barrier eight.
The two had an exciting clash in the Brennan Cup a fortnight ago when Minstrel sat outside Magnificent Storm and outwitted him. It was expected that Magnificent Storm could improve enough to turn the tables.
And so the WA Cup turned out to be a carbon copy of that race, with Minstrel Magnificent Storm unable to hang on at the start and driver Deni Roberts immediately moving to the front to race outside the leader.
Aiden De Campo rode a masterful front run. The mighty Ronaldo came from the second row to take the path with one out and one back, while Mr Smartee was caught behind bars on four occasions.
Magnificent Storm ran its second quarter in 28.7 seconds and De Campo looked to have beaten Minstrel into the final corner as he got well ahead of Minstrel and the rest struggled to keep up.
But Minstrel showed all those fighting qualities we’ve seen and kept going and refused to give in. He managed to beat Magnificent Storm in the shadow of the post and scored by half a neck, while Mighty Ronaldo finished third seven meters away. Minstrel scored 1.54.4 for the 2536 meters to repeat his WA Cup success in 2024. Deni Roberts, who had the honor of being the first female driver to win a WA Cup last year, was also able to drive back to back.
Thanks to his success, Minstrel has now broken the $2 million mark in stakes earnings with $2,024,113 earned through 31 wins and 26 placings from 78 starts.
exclaimed an excited Deni Roberts
I was just in awe of him. Storm had him hit on the corner. And thanks to him, he just finds the equipment he made a length and a half on the straight. That’s when they need to be out and about. He’s just unreal. You always had confidence in him that if he straightened up, he would start shooting again. He keeps getting better.
That’s what coach Greg Bond said
The immediate plans are a short break of two weeks and then we will work him up again.
Bond has three specific targets for early next year, all in the West.
He will compete in the $50,000 Pinjarra Cup on March 2, having won that race for the past two years. He will next go for the Group 1 $1.25 million Nullabor on April 17 and the Group 1 $300,000 Fremantle Pacing Cup a week later.
He is a rising nine year old. Traveling doesn’t scare us. As we travel east there is a problem with the planes. We can get to Melbourne fine, but the problem is the return journey.
In the short term, it seems doubtful that he could conquer the AG Hunter Cup or Miracle Mile in the first quarter of 2026 and furthermore, it seems unlikely that Minstrel will be able to conquer the Inter Dominion in Brisbane in July 2026, which is a long way to go. Nevertheless, if he made the journey to the Eastern States he would be a worthy representative of Western Australia.
For trainers Greg and Skye Bond, it was their second West Australian Pacing Cup after winning with Mighty Conqueror in 2020.
By Tony Milanese for Harnesslink
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