Ken Casellas | Photo: Gloucester Park Harness Racing
Stuart McDonald was booked for just two drives at Gloucester Park on Friday night before he discovered on Thursday that he was required to replace champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr on four horses after Hall had succumbed to an attack of coronavirus.
He seized his unexpected bonus with three winners and a third from those drives, completing his successful night by guiding up-and-coming four-year-old Jumpingjackmac to an easy all-the-way win in the $30,000 DTS All Your Civil And Construction Supply Needs Free-For-All.
Jumpingjackmac’s triumph followed McDonald’s wins with Orlando Blue and Will I Rocknroll and his third with Euphoria.
“It certainly makes life easier with draws like that,” said McDonald as he referred to Orlando Blue starting from barrier two and Will I Rocknroll, Jumpingjackmac and Euphoria all starting from the prized No. 1 barrier.
“I think I had had three Gloucester Park Friday night trebles before tonight, and I am disappointed that I didn’t drive four winners for the first time on any track, with Euphoria suffering from early pressure.”
McDonald’s red letter night on Friday came less than a fortnight after the 27-year-old New Zealand-born reinsman had returned to Western Australia after a 15-month stint working with trainer Nathan Purdon in Victoria.
He said he was particularly pleased to be reunited with Jumpingjackmac (trained by Gary Hall Snr). “He is a lovely horse to drive, and I really wanted to win a race with him,” said McDonald. “I did a lot of work with him as a two-year-old and I drove him at his debut when he won a race at Pinjarra.
“Tonight, there was no pressure early and we went a bit slower than we needed to, mainly because I was a bit concerned about the track which looked like it could bog down pretty quickly. So, I didn’t want to press my luck and run along.
“He did it nice and comfortably. I pulled the plugs out in the final 50 metres, just to wake him up, and he sprinted through the line.”
Jumpingjackmac, the $1.80 favourite, dawdled through the lead time in 40.2sec. and ambled through the opening quarters of the final mile in 32.2sec. and 30.3sec. before sprinting home over the final 400m sections in 28.7sec. and 27.4sec. to win at a 2min. rate over 2130m.
He won by just under a length from his veteran stablemate and $14 chance Chicago Bull, who was driven by Justin Prentice and began speedily from the outside barrier the field of nine before racing in the breeze all the way. Diego ($7.50) raced in fifth position, three back on the pegs, before finishing strongly to be third to give Hall Of Fame trainer Gary Hall Snr a trifecta result.
“I was a bit surprised when Chicago Bull raced up alongside us straight after the start,” said McDonald. “This heightened my worst fears that Chicago Bull would race outside of me and beat me. But Jack is too good for Bull when he leads.”
Jumpingjackmac has already amassed $255,054 in prizemoney from 15 wins and six seconds from 27 placings and he is destined to play a strong part in rich summer carnival events, including the Golden Nugget, Fremantle Cup and WA Pacing Cup.