Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Four-year-old Street Hawk is the least experienced runner in the $30,000 Warwick Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he looks set to prove too brilliant for his eleven rivals.
He will start from the No. 4 barrier and Deni Roberts will have many options at her disposal. She is likely to take advantage of his excellent gate speed.
Roberts, who is in brilliant form in the sulky, was excited at Street Hawk’s effortless all-the-way victory at a 1.57.2 rate over 2130m last Friday week when he was reappearing after a three-month absence, with his success improving his record to eight wins and two placings from 15 starts. He has raced nine times in Western Australia for leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond for six wins and a third.
“He’s special and has that brilliant turn of foot which is going to take him a long way,” she said.
Street Hawk’s most serious rival looms large as the Graham Cummins-trained five-year-old Ifeel Sikdarl, a pacer Roberts drove in three unplaced runs for the Bond stable earlier in his career.
Ifeel Sikdarl, to be handled by Maddison Brown, is in fine form. He raced in the breeze when a fighting second to Vulcan Star last Friday night. This followed stout-hearted winning efforts at Gloucester Park at his two previous outings.
Mister Montblanc, trained by Annie Belton and to be driven by Chris Lewis, will start from the inside of the back line and is capable of a bold effort. He has won at five of his past nine starts.
Wanneroo trainer Debbie Padberg’s veteran performer Deeorse should also be prominent from the No. 1 barrier, with star reinsman Shannon Suvaljko saying: “He ran home well when fourth behind Dont Bother Me None last Friday night. This is a lovely draw for him. He has good gate speed and there’s plenty of gate speed outside of him.
“So, I’ll just drive him how he feels. We will probably take a sit, but I’d want to be behind the leader and not three back (on the pegs).”
The Bond camp and Roberts have excellent prospects in the $30,000 Remembering Diver Hughes Pace in which Roberts will handle Minstrel, who will start out wide at barrier seven in the eight-horse field when making his first appearance since finishing seventh behind Diego in the WA Pacing Cup four weeks ago.
Minstrel, a winner of 16 races and $605,498, will clash with stablemates Glenledi Chief (Gary Hall Jnr.) and Vampiro (Kyle Symington).
Minstrel put up a splendid performance two starts ago when he raced without cover for much of the way and finished a head second to Mighty Ronaldo in the Fremantle Cup.
Glenledi Chief is in career-best form with his past ten starts producing five wins, three seconds, one third and one fifth placing. He has performed brilliantly in recent starts after working in the breeze, and he is likely to be in that position on the outside of the expected pacemaker Hampton Banner.
Hampton Banner set a fast pace and fought on determinedly when a neck second to Glenledi Chief in the 2130m Lord Mayor’s Cup last Friday night. Jocelyn Young should have little difficulty in sending Hampton Banner to the front from barrier three.