Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr thrilled Gloucester Park patrons on Friday night when he produced a daring drive on star mare Nevermindthechaos in the $30,000 TABtouch Restricted Summer Feature Pace.
Nevermindthechaos, the $3 second favourite from the awkward barrier No. 6, settled down in ninth position before Hall threw caution to the wind and set her alight with a sizzling burst, three and four wide, after 350m to charge to the front with two laps to travel.
Hall was determined to get in front of the classy $2.30 favourite The Amber Hare, which he did. And then Hall rated Nevermindthechaos to perfection, with The Amber Hare forced to work hard in the breeze.
Nevermindthechaos raced away in the closing stages and won by just over two lengths from the Amber Hare, rating 1.55.3 over the 2130m journey, with final quarters of 28.3sec. and 27.9sec. Nullarbor Navajo ($7.50) ran on from seventh at the bell to be third.
Discussing his bold tactics, Hall said: “It probably looked a bit risky, but I didn’t feel that it was. I wanted to get to the front; we had to get there to win the race.”
Trainer Michael Young was delighted with the win, saying: “It was a very clever drive, and Nevermindthechaos is a brilliant frontrunner. But she rarely gets the draw to get to the front. Tonight she got to the front purely because of Gary’s drive. There is not a mare in the State who can beat Nevermindthechaos when she leads. And there is a lot of geldings she would knock off as well.
“There is another Free-For-All for mares next week, followed by the Lombardo Pace ($50,000) on March 10, the Golden Girls Mile ($30,000) at Pinjarra on March 20 and the Empress Stakes ($75,000) on March 31.
“So, we have three good races coming up, and then she will go for a break.”