Bonds Look to Vampiro

Star Forrestdale trainers Greg and Skye Bond have made a flying start to the 2018-19 season with 16 winners and seven placegetters from 35 starters from the first 25 days of the season and they have high hopes that up-and-coming star Vampiro will continue this golden run at Gloucester Park on Friday night by winning the $25,000 Media Guild Cup over 2536m.

Vampiro, a New Zealand-bred five-year-old, is in the best form of his 35-start career which has produced 15 wins, eight seconds and four thirds.

He will again be driven by Ryan Warwick, who has won the Media Guild Cup with Fernleigh in 2004 and Simply Susational last year. Simply Susational, an 11/2 chance, gave the Bond stable its second victory in this event, following Ima Rocket Star’s win over stablemate Talk It Up in 2013.

The Bond stable also finished second with Can Return Fire in the 2012 Media Guild Cup and had thirds with Mister Odds On in 2009 and Eastwood Fire in 2011.  

Vampiro was gallant in defeat at his most recent appearance, in the 2536m Spring Pace last Friday week when he raced three wide for the first 400m and then worked hard in the breeze before getting to the front 250m from home and finishing a close second to the fast-finishing Runrunjimmydunn after a final 800m in 56.7sec.

That followed impressive victories at Gloucester Park on each of the three previous Fridays.

Vampiro will start from the No. 6 barrier in a field of seven on Friday night and Warwick will have plenty of options, including an early charge to put pressure on the comparatively inexperienced King of Swing. Warwick may well decide to restrain Vampiro in the early stages before making a mid-race move or waiting for a spirited last-lap charge.

There is a strong possibility that the Ross Olivieri-trained Motu Premier (barrier five) will dash forward in the early stages to challenge the expected pacemaker King of Swing.

Champion reinsman Chris Lewis used similar tactics in a 2536m event last Friday week when Motu Premier started from barrier seven and surged forward into the breeze after 550m to apply pressure on the pacemaker, the smart four-year-old Speed Man. Motu Premier worried Speed Man for two and a half laps before getting up to beat him by a half head.

Olivieri, who will also be represented by Im Full of Excuses (Chris Voak), hinted strongly that Motu Premier was likely to apply similar pressure on King of Swing.

“Motu Premier’s winning prospects will depend largely on whether King of Swing is stronger than Speed Man,” said Olivieri, who prepared Media Guild Cup placegetters Franco Amon (2008) and Gary Bromac (2010).

Hall of Fame trainer Gary Hall snr declared that King of Swing, last season’s WA Derby winner, was two or three lengths better than Speed Man, who has won at ten of his 22 starts. However, Hall admitted that he was throwing King of Swing into the deep end in a bid to assess his ability against top-flight pacers.

King of Swing notched his fifth win in a row when he enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and one-back, before finishing powerfully to defeat the pacemaker Dontstopbelievin at a 1.57.5 rate over 2185m at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon when the final 800m was covered in 55.8sec.

King of Swing, who is being set for the four-year-old feature events, including the Golden Nugget championship later this season, has an M0 classification and certainly faces an acid test against far more experienced and better-credentialled rivals in The Bucket List (M7), Vampiro and Waylade (M6), Motu Premier and Im Full of Excuses (M5).

Hall has won the Media Guild Cup with The Falcon Strike (2003), Kotare Flame (March 2007), Washakie (2008) and Our Arlington (2014). Gary Hall jnr, who will be in the sulky behind King of Swing, has been successful with The Falcon Strike, Kotare Flame, Washakie and the Kevin Keys-trained Tuxedo Tour (2015).

Lewis has won the Cup five times --- with Village Kid (1987 and 1991), Paly (2002), Has The Answers (2010) and No Blue Manna (November 2007).

The Michael Brennan-trained The Bucket List (Michael Grantham) is a definite knock-out chance in Friday night’s Cup. He maintained his splendid form when he ran home strongly to finish second to Chicago Bull in the Navy Cup last Friday night. He will start from the outside barrier this week and Grantham is likely to hold him up for a late charge at the leaders.