Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Members of Katja Warwick’s team have been firing in grand style, with her 36 runners this season chalking up nine wins and six placings.
And her smart WA-bred six-year-old Rascal has excellent winning prospects when he begins from the No. 2 barrier in the 2130m Sky Racing Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
A victory by Rascal, who will be driven by Chris Lewis, would be a memorable one for Warwick, her 200TH training success.
“Rascal is going really well,” said Warwick. “He is happy and ready to put in a good race. We all know that he loves to lead.”
Rascal, who has been unplaced at his past six outings, has set the pace when leading in eleven of his 13 victories from 46 starts.
Possibly standing in the way of a Rascal victory is Brigadoon trainer Chris Phatouros’s evergreen nine-year-old Acuto, who will be driven by Kyle Symington from the No. 1 barrier.
“I think Acuto can hold Rascal at the start,” said Symington. “The last time Acuto led he won, rating 1.56.4 (nine starts ago) and he won by a big margin. He grows a leg in front.”
Warwick also has sound prospects in the opening event, the 2130m Westerntrilogy.com.au Pace, in which she will be represented by the only mare in the race, the WA-bred four-year-old Fly To Fame, who will be driven by Lewis from barrier No. 3.
Fly To Fame trailed the pacemaker Navy Street and finished strongly when second to Lucca in a 2503m stand last Friday night in which the final 400m was covered in 28.6sec. Three days earlier Fly To Fame finished a close second to Wall Street Girl over 2130m at Gloucester Park.
“Her run last week was absolutely super,” said Warwick. “She tries her heart out, but barrier three could be tricky.”
Toughest for Fly To Fame to beat is likely to be the polemarker Heez Good As Gold, who will be driven by Shannon Suvaljko for trainer Mike Reed.
Heez Good As Gold began from the back line and raced three wide early before getting to the front and finishing second to the Warwick-trained Travelban over 2190m at Northam last Saturday night.
Tux And Tails is racing keenly for Northam trainer Lang Inwood, and the seven-year-old will be driven by Gary Hall Jnr from the No. 2 barrier. Tux And Tails covered a lot of extra ground when a good third behind the smart pacer Brickies Dream at Northam last Saturday night. That followed wins at Narrogin and Gloucester Park at his two previous starts.
Inwood will also be looking for a strong performance from Eye Better, who will be driven by Kyle Symington from barrier five in the 2130m Steelos Pace. Eye Better appreciated an ideal passage in the one-out, one-back position before running home solidly to finish second to Bramante Steps at Gloucester Park on Tuesday evening when the final 400m was covered in a slick 27.7sec. That followed Eye Better’s fast-finishing half-head second to Duty Bound last Friday night.
Eye Better’s toughest opponent is expected to be the Mike Reed-trained four-year-old Mister Linton, who will be having his first start since last August. Mister Linton, who will begin from barrier four, impressed two starts ago when he set the pace and won from Insta Gator.