Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Star pacer Magnificent Storm is poised to make amends for his surprise defeat last week by winning the Group 1 $100,000 Barbagallo James Brennan Memorial at Gloucester Park on Friday night and becoming only the third multiple winner in this feature event.
Magnificent Storm made most of the running in last year’s Brennan Memorial and held on to beat Vampiro by a head.
The only pacers to have won the Brennan Memorial more than once in the 55-year history of the race have been Village Kid and Shattering Class.
Village Kid won in 1986, 1987 and 1990, and Shattering Class won in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
Magnificent Storm was a hot $1.40 favourite in a 2536m Free-For-All last Friday night when he started from the outside barrier (No. 9) and failed to settle and overraced. He dashed forward from seventh soon after the start and raced in the breeze, with Hurricane Harley setting the pace.
He took the lead 550m from home but wilted in the final stages to finish fourth behind Patronus Star, Cordero and Mighty Conqueror. This week the Ray Williams-trained Magnificent Storm will start from the No. 5 barrier on the front line and his driver Aldo Cortopassi will determine his tactics as the race unfolds.
Cortopassi, who drove Just Jasper to victory in the 2008 Brennan Memorial, is quite likely to drive Magnificent Storm with a sit, considering the excellent gate speed to his inside with Stroke Of Luck (barrier one), To Fast To Serious (three) and Hampton Banner (four) all possessing abundant early speed.
Stroke Of Luck’s two most recent victories have been when he has set the pace; To Fast To Serious has led at seven of his 17 wins; and Hampton Banner has won nine times when leading at Gloucester Park.
Chris Lewis, who drives Hampton Banner, has won the Brennan Memorial a record eight times.
To Fast To Serious, trained and driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, looms large as a serious rival to Magnificent Storm. It is an intriguing situation, with Cortopassi having driven To Fast To Serious to 16 of his 17 wins, and it is also interesting to note that To Fast To Serious has won only once over 2536m (the distance of Friday night’s race) from eight appearances over that journey.
Leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond have been prominent in the past few years in the Brennan Memorial, having scored with Vampiro in 2018 when he defeated his stablemate Our Jimmy Johnstone, who won the race the following year when he beat stablemate El Jacko. And then Vampiro was beaten into second place in a tight photo finish by Magnificent Storm last year.
The Bonds will be pinning their faith in Patronus Star, who will be driven by Deni Roberts from the outside barrier (No. 3) on the back line. Patronus Star was most impressive last Friday night when, at his first outing for 15 weeks he charged home from last to score a decisive victory over Cordero at a 1.57.3 rate over 2536m.
Cordero, trained by Trevor Wright and to be driven by Kyle Harper, is favourably drawn at barrier two on Friday night, and will have admirers after his fine effort last week when he surged home from eighth at the bell to finish second to Patronus Star.
Serpentine trainer Gary Hall Snr, who has won the Brennan Memorial with Alzona (2011), Waylade (2016) and Chicago Bull (2017), will be represented by Diego (barrier nine) and backline runners Gambit and Wildwest.
Gary Hall Jnr will handle Wildwest, Maddison Brown will be in the sulky behind Diego and Stuart McDonald will drive Gambit.