Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Outstanding young pacer Swingband looks set to return to action after a 189-day absence on a winning note when he starts from an awkward draw at No. 7 in the Larkhill Vets $50,000 Four and Five-Year-Old Championship at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The Ryan Bell-trained four-year-old, the least experienced runner in the group 3 2130m event, with eleven wins from 21 starts, will be handled by the youngest driver in the race, 21-year-old Kyle Symington.
Bell will produce a fit and firing Swingband after the gelding’s stylish victories in two recent 2185m Pinjarra trials. On Wednesday of last week Swingband dashed to the front after 350m, and after casual opening quarters of the final mile in 31.8sec. and 31sec., he sprinted over the final 400m sections in 27.3sec. and 27sec. and won by a neck from his star stablemate Shockwave, rating 1.58.3.
In his trial six days earlier Swingband was restrained back to last in a field of five and raced four back on the pegs before being eased off the inside 450m from home and then surging to the front in the final 90 metres and beating the fast-finishing Shockwave, rating 1.57.9, with a final 800m of 57sec.
Swingband has enjoyed a good spell since his most recent outing, when he broke into a gallop 300m after the start and was retired from a race at Gloucester Park on October 28.
Bell will be attempting to win the Four and Five-Year-Old Championship for the second time, following Shockwave’s easy all-the-way victory from barrier one in March 2020 when he defeated Bletchley Park and Ocean Ridge at a 1.56.5 rate.
One of Swingband’s toughest opponents on Friday night is likely to be the polemarker Arma Einstein, who trailed the pacemaker Jaspervellabeach before taking the lead 300m from home and finishing second to Doc Holliday, who followed Arma Einstein throughout the race.
Arma Einstein, trained by Colin Brown and to be driven by his daughter Maddison, is a versatile performer with a record of 16 wins and 36 placings from 82 starts. He warmed up for this week’s assignment in fine style two Fridays ago when he trailed the pacemaker Dont Bother Me None and sprinted fast in the home straight to finish a half-head second to the leader.
Dont Bother Me None, who was the $3.50 favourite and finished fourth behind Doc Holliday in last year’s Four and Five-Year-Old Championship, will start from the outside of the back line in this week’s event in which he will be driven by Deni Roberts.
Michael Young, who prepared Doc Holliday’s win last year, will be looking to repeat the dose this week with his talented five-year-old Watts Up Sunshine, who has been unextended in scoring most impressive victories at his first two starts in Western Australia.
Watts Up Sunshine, who took an early lead and set the pace before beating Eldaytona at a 1.56.1 rate over 2130m last Friday night, is drawn out wide at barrier eight. But he has the class to overcome this disadvantage.
Champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr has given punters a good lead by choosing to drive Watts Up Sunshine in preference to El Chema, who is more favourably drawn at barrier five. El Chema, a winner at three of his past five starts, will be driven by his trainer Justin Prentice.
Eldaytona, trained by Sue Wiscombe and driven by Lindsay Harper, is favourably drawn at barrier three, and will have admirers after his fighting effort last week.
Mt Helena trainer Ray Williams will be represented by in-form New Zealand-bred five-year-olds Stamford (Aiden De Campo; barrier six) and Ezana (Dylan Egerton-Green; barrier two on the back line).