Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Arma Xfactor, a winner at seven of his 14 starts last season, went into the 1730m Westral Meshlock Security Doors Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night with only one placing from his first six starts as a five-year-old this season.
But a flying start from the No. 5 barrier paved the way for his easy victory, with driver Maddison Brown saying that the horse had overcome some problems he experienced when a fading eighth in a field of nine a fortnight earlier.
“Dad (trainer Colin Brown) wasn’t happy with the way he pulled up after his previous run when he pulled up a bit scratchy,” she explained. “But Dad got him ready for tonight, and this gave me the confidence to drive him the way I did.
“Early on, Arma Xfactor didn’t have such good gate speed, and would go a bit rough. Now, he is a lot better, and once he got to the front tonight, I was confident he would win.”
Arma Xfactor, the $3.80 second favourite, began brilliantly and charged straight to the front when he had too much speed for the $1.75 favourite Classic Choice, who was widely tipped to set the pace from barrier two.
Classic Choice, driven by Shannon Suvaljko, worked hard in the breeze and found that Arma Xfactor’s 56.4sec. final 800m was beyond his capabilities and he wilted to finish sixth.
Arma Xfactor coasted to the line to win by two lengths from $10 chance Rock Me Over, who enjoyed a perfect trail behind the pacemaker, who rated a smart 1.54.3.
Arma Xfactor, a five-year-old by American Ideal, has earned $130,860 from 13 wins and seven placings from 45 starts. He has inherited much of his ability from his dam Arma Xpress, who was retired after racing 18 times for twelve wins and one second placing for stakes of $279,890.