Star mare Penny Black (Dear Lou) is at the height of her powers after stunning victories in the Free-For-Alls running races in her past two starts, and her trainer Michael Young is looking forward to her clash with superstar horse millionaire Mister Smartee in the $31,000 Tinney Lynney Pace over 2130 meters at Gloucester Park on Friday evening.
Penny Black, driven by Emily Suvaljko from barrier eight, and Mister Smartee (Stuart McDonald; barrier nine) are sure to dominate the race betting, with Young hoping that Penny Black starting inside her excellent rival will prove a decisive factor in the outcome.
“Penny Black is thriving, and this is not the strongest Free-For-All,” Young said. “So we’ll be aggressive and go to the front at the start, and when we get into the wind, Mr. Smartee will have to come from behind to beat her.”
There is no denying the brilliance of Mr Smartee, whose form in four starts since resuming a spell has been excellent, including a flying start from the outside at barrier eight and setting a brisk pace before easily winning against Captain Ravishing and Penny Black three starts ago.
But Penny Black was just as impressive, winning easily on her last two starts (over 2130 metres), beating Aardiebytheseaside and Heavenly Gipsy.
Aardiebytheseaside looks unbeatable as she starts from the No. 1 barrier in the opening event, the $27,000 North Coast Fiberglass Neerabup Pace over 2130 meters – having been beaten from unfavorable barriers in her past two outings.
Aardiebytheseaside started from the outside of the back line in Group 3 Schrader Pace last Friday evening when she was held back early and was eighth at the bell before flying home to finish fifth behind Penny Black, with the final quarters (front) in 27.2 seconds. and 27.7 sec.
Deni Roberts, who runs Aardiebytheseaside for leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, said: “Her recent runs have been very good. She has good gate speed, and we will look to lead and prove difficult to beat.”
Roberts should also feature prominently in the next two events, where she will pilot Rumble Strip (barrier four) in the 2130m Fiberglass Shower Specialists WA Derby Prelude and Thelittle Master (barrier seven) in the Bathroom Central WA Pace.
She chose Rumble Strip ahead of Bond-trained stablemates Mad Monday (Stuart McDonald), Captainshavtime (Donald Harper) and Captains Creek (Tom Nally).
“Rumble Strip should be able to get to the front from barrier four,” Roberts said. “He had to do too much work the last start (when he was a fading ninth behind When In Vegas). That followed smart wins in each of his three previous starts.
The hardest to beat for Rumble Strip are likely to be pole marker and last-start winner Charivari, who will be ridden by Jack Callaghan for trainer Ryan Bell, and the Aiden De Campo-trained and ridden Runkle Crunch, who will start from the inside of the backline after having no luck being unplaced on his first three starts in WA after arriving from New Zealand.
“This is a good draw for Runkle Crunch and I think he will have a good race,” said De Campo. “He’s a quality animal but his first two runs here were disappointing. In his last start he was superb when he ran strong across the line (when he finished fourth behind Bettor Fortune). If I had time again I would have gone wide in the 400m instead of going through in the middle. If he gets them this week he will go very well.”
For full race entries, click here.
Through Ken Casellasfor Gloucester Park
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