Ken Casellas | Photo: Gloucester Park
“Things are getting serious now as we’re getting closer to the Nullarbor and the Fremantle Cup,” declared outstanding young reinsman Kyle Symington as he pondered Swingband’s prospects in the $50,000 Bunbury Cup at Donaldson Park on Saturday night.
Five-year-old Swingband, trained by Ryan Bell, will begin from the No. 1 barrier in the Group 3 2569m Cup, with Bell saying: “He has improved on his past two starts and I’ll be pretty disappointed if he leads and gets beaten.
“It’s been a while since he has been able to paint the rail from the get-go, and that’s the plan, to set the pace on Saturday night.”
Swingband has warmed up for the Bunbury Cup with two excellent efforts, a half-head second to Ideal Agent in the 1684m Mount Eden Sprint over 1684m at Pinjarra last Monday week after racing in the breeze, and a half-length second to Lavra Joe in a 2130m Free-For-All at Gloucester Park at his previous outing.
“Swingband’s latest run was outstanding,” said Symington. “It was over the mile, and I think it was the run of the race. He was super, working hard early to get to the breeze and only just getting pipped on the line by a horse who had been sitting back in the field.”
Champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr is hoping that star four-year-old Never Ending will maintain his splendid form at Donaldson Park, with the gelding having raced there twice in September and October last year for easy wins over 2100m in the Battle Of Bunbury and the South-West Derby.
“I spoke with Justin (trainer Justin Prentice) today (Tuesday) and he is happy with the horse,” said Hall. “Barrier three is okay in his first race against the big boys. It looks as though Swingband will lead, so we will come out and get a spot, sit him up and use his speed late.”
Never Ending notched his 13TH win from 15 starts when he won the Group 3 Preux Chevalier Classic last Friday night. He overcame the disadvantage of hanging in badly and was able to get up and beat the pacemaker Hotly Pursued, with the final three 400m sections being covered in 28.8sec., 27.6sec. and 27.9sec.
Never Ending is sure to prove hard to beat, with his stablemate Mighty Ronaldo also capable of a bold showing. Mighty Ronaldo, who finished third behind Lavra Joe and Magnificent Storm in last year’s Bunbury Cup, will be driven by Emily Suvaljko from the favourable No. 2 barrier.
Mighty Ronaldo raced without cover for 800m before taking the lead 250m from home and winning by more than a length from Watts Up Sunshine at a 1.56.2 rate over 2130m last Friday week.
Jumpingjackmac, trained by Gary Hall Snr, fared poorly in the random draw and he faces a stern test from the outside barrier (No. 7) on the front line, with reinsman Stuart McDonald saying: “He is good enough to win, but he will need a genuinely run race.
“The draw is not helpful, and my tactics will depend largely on what the other runners do early. His first-up run (for four months) was good and he’s going to be a lot better.”
Jumpingjackmac ran home strongly along the sprint lane to finish a close fourth, less than a length behind the winner Ideal Agent in the Mount Eden Sprint at Pinjarra last Monday week.
Lavra Joe is poorly drawn at barrier four on the back line, with reinsman Kyle Harper saying: “It’s a tricky draw, with us being in sort of no man’s land. We will have to wing it and see what happens, I suppose. We might have to sit him up which would be quite a good test for him.”