McCARTHY SAYS WASHAKIE IS READY TO BOUNCE BACK
Veteran pacer Washakie is tough as teak and his trainer John McCarthy is confident the eight-year-old will bounce back to the winning list when he contests the fifth heat of the V75 interdominion championship at Gloucester Park on Monday night.
The WA-owned Washakie has drawn nicely at barrier three in the 2100m event which should develop into a showdown between him and Raglan, who will start from the No. 2 barrier.
Washakie set the pace and was placed under severe pressure for much of the 1700m first heat last Friday night before finishing a gallant second to Auckland Reactor.
“I thought it was one of his better efforts,” McCarthy said. “He did a lot of work and they tell me that the winner’s time of 1.53.7 is a pretty quick time on that track. They don’t go much quicker, I suppose.”
McCarthy said that he was not upset that Darren Duffy, driving Sneakyn Down Under, had applied such persistent pressure, saying: “I wasn’t annoyed that someone took me on at the start. You expect people to come out and have a crack. But I was surprised he (Duffy) didn’t sit up a bit. If he had sat up, Sneakyn Down Under probably would have run second.”
Sneakyn Down Under got more than a half-length in front of Washakie at various stages of the final lap on Friday night before he wilted and finished fourth. Washakie regained the lead and was overhauled by Auckland Reactor only 30m from the post.
“Mind you, Sneakyn Down Under went pretty good,” McCarthy said. “I looked around after passing the post and was surprised to see that he was right there. I thought that he went really well and could probably be a grand circuit horse. He’s really fast.”
McCarthy said that he planned to go forward with Washakie on Monday night. “He goes forward, everyone knows that he leads or sits outside the leader. That’s where he races best. He’s won all his big races either by leading or sitting in the death. Raglan didn’t get a go the other night and you would expect him to go better.”
Star New Zealand reinsman Anthony Butt was more than happy with Raglan’s No. 2 barrier, saying: “It’s a good draw and he should be able to get out and lead from there. That’s the plan.
“He needs the points now (after earning only four points for his extremely unlucky sixth behind Crombie in the second heat on Friday night),” Butt said. “You’ve got to take luck out of the equation. Raglan has good gate speed and has won a lot of his races in front. So leading won’t worry him. Washakie is the danger. He ran a great race the other night.”
Raglan was favourite at 5/4 in the second heat and he enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and one-back, following Mr Feelgood in the breeze. But Raglan was put in a tight pocket when Mysta Magical Mach moved up on his outside.
Raglan did not gain a clear run at any stage of the final lap and went to the line with nowhere to go and full of running.
“I probably made a mistake by sitting him with a lap to go,” Butt admitted. “You make these decisions at the time. I expected Mr Feelgood to go a bit better than he did. That’s the way it goes, you win some and lose some.”
IT’S ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR IM THEMIGHTYQUINN
Western Australia’s leading trainer Gary Hall sen. is not concerned that Im Themightyquinn will have to race in three heats of the V75 interdominion championship in the space of eight days before contesting the $1 million final next Friday week.
“I don’t think three heats will worry him,” Hall declared. “He’s not the sort of horse who is troubled by that sort of program. He loves racing; he enjoys it.”
Im Themightyquinn, a most impressive winner of the fourth heat on Friday night, will dominate betting on the eighth heat over 2100m at Gloucester Park on Monday night. He will start from barrier four and Gary Hall jun. should have him in a commanding position throughout before asking him to unleash his trademark devastating finishing burst.
“He’s okay, he’s good, he’s fine and should again be hard to beat,” Hall sen. said after the seven-year-old had completed a light jog at Hall’s Hazelmere’s training establishment in high spirits on Sunday morning.
“He has taken no ill-effects from Friday night’s race,” Hall sen. said. “It was an easy run, and from No. 4 again on Monday night he should get a similar run one-out and one-back), which would be ideal.
“Gary did it last year in Auckland. He kept getting the pie runs, and I’m hoping he’ll do it again this year.”
Hall predicted that the WA-trained David Hercules would be the hardest for Im Themightyquinn to beat on Monday night, if Mark Reed set the pace with him from barrier two. David Hercules was not suited from the No. 8 barrier in the first heat on Friday night when he raced at the rear and was forced to cover a lot of extra ground before finishing in eighth place.
There are no interstate or overseas runners in the eighth heat, in which David Hercules, Dasher VC, Mysta Magical Mach and Rocket Reign will have the opportunity to gain valuable points.
Dasher VC, who led when second to Im Themightyquinn in the 2506m WA Pacing Cup in January, is poorly drawn at barrier eight and Chris Lewis is likely to restrain the five-year-old at the start before asking him for a strong effort in the final circuit.
Dasher VC also started from the No. 8 barrier in the 1700m third heat on Friday night when he finished powerfully from seventh at the bell to be a half-length second to Smoken Up. It was an eye-catching performance.
Rocket Reign, who led from barrier one when a fighting third to Crombie and Can Return Fire in the second heat on Friday night, faces a far more difficult task from the No. 7 barrier.
Mysta Magical Mach has sound place prospects from barrier three. He started from barrier seven and sustained a strong run from the rear when fifth behind Crombie on Friday night.
Evergreen champion Mr Feelgood is still a force to be reckoned with in the V75 interdominion championship at Gloucester Park.
That’s the opinion of champion Queensland trainer-reinsman John McCarthy, who expects the nine-year-old American-bred pacer to improve on his close fourth behind Crombie in the 1700m second heat on Friday night when he contests the sixth heat over 2100m on Monday night.
Mr Feelgood, a winner of $3.3 million, was a 6/4 second favourite when he started out wide at barrier eight on Friday night and raced three wide early before moving outside the pacemaker Rocket Reign 350m after the start. He battled on doggedly to finish a close fourth behind Crombie.
“I expect him to improve a lot,” McCarthy said. “He had not raced for a month and when you watch the video, you’ll see that he got beaten only a head, a head and a neck. There were four across the line and I did sit in the death.
“I know he should be going better. His heart rate was up a tad. But I always said that what he did on Friday night he’d improve on when he races on Monday. The draws haven’t been kind to him, but he’s still a force to be reckoned with and I’m expecting him to run a better race.
“He doesn’t have to go that much better. I sat in the breeze and he’s gone 1.56 and everyone thinks he was disappointing. But when you haven’t raced for a month and haven’t had a trial, it was a pretty good run. And I’m expecting that run to tighten him right up.”
Mr Feelgood will start from the No. 6 barrier on Monday when he will clash with star New Zealander Auckland Reactor, who is more favourably drawn at barrier three.
Auckland Reactor also started from the No. 3 barrier in the first heat over 1700m on Friday night when he enjoyed a perfect trip, one-out and one-back, before finishing strongly to win from Washakie at a 1.53.7 rate.
Reinsman Anthony Butt was delighted with Auckland Reactor’s performance, but admitted that the stallion had all the favours in the race, with pacemaker Washakie being challenged hard by Sneakyn Down Under for most of the race.
“Auckland Reactor travelled beautifully and the race was set up for him,” Butt said. “He had a lovely run and he took a wee while to pick up Washakie. But he was only getting wound up at the finish and I think he will get better when the distances get further.”
Butt said that Auckland Reactor was a versatile pacer who should be prominent again. He said that he expected Has The Answers to begin with his usual brilliance from barrier seven.
“Auckland Reactor will come out from gate three and he’s got good gate speed if I choose to use it. I’ll play things by ear when I see how he feels when he is up behind the gate. He’s going to settle in a nice spot, either way.”
TILBROOK EXCITED AT CROMBIE’S FORM
Byford trainer Peter Tilbrook is thrilled at the form of Crombie and is looking forward to the five-year-old finishing among the placings in the seventh heat of the V75 interdominion championship at Gloucester Park on Monday night to enhance his prospects of qualifying for the $1 million final on Friday week.
Crombie exceeded all expectations when he stormed home from last to score a thrilling victory over Can Return Fire and Rocket Reign in the 1700m second heat on Friday night when he overcame the distinct disadvantage of starting from the outside barrier in the field of nine.
The Victorian-bred Crombie will start from the No. 5 barrier on Monday night and faces a big task to topple champion pacer Smoken Up, who will start from barrier six.
“Crombie has pulled up really, really well, even better than could be expected,” Tilbrook said. “He’s in terrific shape and his run on Friday night was enormous. To come from last and cover the rest of the field like that was amazing.
“When the draw came out for that race I thought he had no hope. I thought if he could finish about fourth it would be good to get some reasonable points. To win was an absolute bonus.
“I don’t think we can beat Smoken Up, but if he can run second or third it pretty much means that he would only have to run in the top six on the final night of heats to get into the final.”
Tilbrook said that Chris Lewis probably would go back at the start and look for a position in the one-wide line. “It would be good if Chris was able to save him up until late and, hopefully, the horse can get home and I’d be happy if he could run second or third. If we go back and drive steady before letting him come home I think he’ll be in the finish.”
John Justice again appears certain to charge forward with Smoken Up in a bid to get to an early lead. Whether he leads, races in the breeze or is held up for a late charge, Smoken Up looks a certainty to chalk up his 59th victory in a remarkable career.
WESTERN CULLEN READY FOR STRONG FIRST-UP EFFORT
Outstanding New Zealand-bred gelding Western Cullen will open his three-year-old campaign when he contests the Bio-John Pace at Gloucester Park on Monday night.
His clash with the brilliant WA-bred Gracias Para Nada promises to be one of the many highlights on the nine-event program.
Byford trainer Peter Tilbrook said he expected Western Cullen to perform strongly at his first appearance since scoring an effortless victory in a 1700m event at a 1.57.1 rate at Gloucester Park on August 19.
Western Cullen, a winner of two races from five New Zealand starts, is unbeaten at his first three Australian starts, all at Gloucester Park last winter. Those wins included a superb victory over Major Catastrophe and Gracias Para Nada in the group 1 Golden Slipper last July.
Western Cullen, who has earned $297,763 from five wins and three placings from eight starts, will start from the inside of the back line in Monday night’s 2100m event. He will again be driven by Chris Lewis.
Tilbrook handled Western Cullen in a 2150m trial at Byford on Sunday of last week when the gelding impressed in winning the six-horse trial by five lengths after dashing over the final 800m in 57.3sec.
“The trial was really good,” said Tilbrook. “I just dropped him back to last and pulled out with a lap to go and he quickly covered the rest of the field and ran home in 57.3sec. out in front on his own. It was a good enough trial to be ready to go to the races. He’s not quite spot on yet, but I expect him to run a pretty good race.”
Tilbrook said that his other runner Mohegan Sun (to be driven by Ryan Bell) was capable of a strong showing. “He’s working a treat since his last-start win. He has trained on well and is improving with big steps every week. He will run a really good race and will surprise a lot of people.”
Hazelmere trainer Gary Hall sen. said that Gracias Para Nada’s better barrier draw at No. 5 on the front line should tilt the scales in his pacer’s favour.
“I think the draw has made it better for us,” he said. “Obviously, Western Cullen is the danger, but I would say that from the back line he would have to be really good to beat us.”
Hall said that consistent Black Aquila, strong-finishing thirds at each of his past three starts, should again figure in the placings.
Gracias Para Nada is in brilliant form and is unbeaten at his three starts this season. He rated 1.57 when a winner by more than nine lengths at his most recent outing, over 2100m at Gloucester Park on January 20.
by Ken Casellas
