Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
New Zealand-bred five-year-old Hampton Banner revealed his class with a typical stylish frontrunning display to score a narrow victory in the 1730m Pat Cranley Memorial at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with part-owner Mark Lewis saying the Bettors Delight gelding was on target to play an important role in the rich Fremantle and WA Pacing Cups in January.
Hampton Banner, prepared by Lewis’s mother Debra and driven by his father Chris, has set the pace in all of his 11 victories from 31 WA starts, which have included five seconds and one third placing.
This was his second appearance over 1730m, following his win over Palatino in April 2021 when he rated 1.55.2. He revealed a good fighting spirit on Friday night to hold on and win by a half-head from the strong-finishing Wildwest, rating 1.54.9.
Hampton Banner was the $2.30 favourite from barrier three on Friday night and he had to work hard to get to the front after the polemarker and $20 chance Jaspervellabeach had held him at bay for the first 300m.
“He hasn’t been a hundred per cent recently, but all went well tonight,” said Mark Lewis. “Hopefully, we’ll get him back in the right direction before the Cups. He had a couple of little setbacks a month or so ago which held him up a little bit. He is now fine and should get better, going forward.
“He is good in front over short distances and is hard to beat. But he actually likes the distances of the big races (the 2536m Fremantle Cup and the 2936m WA Pacing Cup). He was pretty good in the Pacing Cup last February (when sixth behind Wildwest). He didn’t get the right run and he could have won with a little bit of luck.”
Before that sound effort Hampton Banner had finished second to Papinik in the Fremantle Cup Consolation. He won at three of his ten starts in New Zealand, and now has an excellent record of 41 starts for 14 wins, five seconds and one third for earnings of $207,063.
New Zealand-bred five-year-old Hampton Banner revealed his class with a typical stylish frontrunning display to score a narrow victory in the 1730m Pat Cranley Memorial at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with part-owner Mark Lewis saying the Bettors Delight gelding was on target to play an important role in the rich Fremantle and WA Pacing Cups in January.
Hampton Banner, prepared by Lewis’s mother Debra and driven by his father Chris, has set the pace in all of his 11 victories from 31 WA starts, which have included five seconds and one third placing.
This was his second appearance over 1730m, following his win over Palatino in April 2021 when he rated 1.55.2. He revealed a good fighting spirit on Friday night to hold on and win by a half-head from the strong-finishing Wildwest, rating 1.54.9.
Hampton Banner was the $2.30 favourite from barrier three on Friday night and he had to work hard to get to the front after the polemarker and $20 chance Jaspervellabeach had held him at bay for the first 300m.
“He hasn’t been a hundred per cent recently, but all went well tonight,” said Mark Lewis. “Hopefully, we’ll get him back in the right direction before the Cups. He had a couple of little setbacks a month or so ago which held him up a little bit. He is now fine and should get better, going forward.
“He is good in front over short distances and is hard to beat. But he actually likes the distances of the big races (the 2536m Fremantle Cup and the 2936m WA Pacing Cup). He was pretty good in the Pacing Cup last February (when sixth behind Wildwest). He didn’t get the right run and he could have won with a little bit of luck.”
Before that sound effort Hampton Banner had finished second to Papinik in the Fremantle Cup Consolation. He won at three of his ten starts in New Zealand, and now has an excellent record of 41 starts for 14 wins, five seconds and one third for earnings of $207,063.