Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
“He’s done a massive job,” said Banjup trainer Murray Lindau after Kyle Harper had driven the speedy WA-bred six-year-old Talks Up A Storm to a smart all-the-way victory in the $31,000 The Game Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“He is a week-by-week proposition,” said Lindau. “Tying up is his major problem, and I have to be very careful with him. If he ties up, I’ve lost a couple of months.
“I’m on top of things at the moment. We have done some bloods which have indicated that I need to space his runs.
“Tonight, Kyle drove a cracker of a race, rating him back to leave him with a kick for home, which he needed.”
Talks Up A Storm, the $1.70 favourite, was first out from barrier four, and he had to fend off the $7.50 chance Vultan Tin, who led by a half length with 1050m to travel.
Talks Up A Storm then increased the tempo with final quarters of 28sec. and 28.7sec. and he held on determinedly to win by a half neck from 11-year-old gelding Galactic Star, the $4 second fancy who impressed in surging home from sixth and last at the 220m mark.
Talks Up A Storm rated 1.56.2 after dashing over the final 800m in 56.7sec. to take his record to 63 starts for 17 wins, 15 placings and $279,964 in prizemoney.