Ken Casellas | Photo: SCOTT HAMILTON MEDIA
Forgotten pacer Bettor Aim will return to racing after an absence of 1984 days when he lines up to do battle with emerging super star Never Ending in the $31,000 BOTRA – Thanking Our President Free-For-All over 1730m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
This promises to result in an audacious challenge by the nine-year-old against the brilliant four-year-old Never Ending, a winner at 15 of his 19 starts for earnings of $606,275 who is the favourite for the $2.1 million Eureka, the world’s richest harness race, at Menangle on September 7.
It is five and a half years since Bettor Aim, part-owned and prepared by leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, contested a race, when he was storming home before being checked, broke into a gallop 100 metres from the post and finished fifth behind stablemate Ana Malak in the group 1 Golden Nugget on February 22, 2019.
Bettor Aim is an outstanding sprinter, having set the pace and won a 1730m heat of the Nights Of Thunder in January 2019, rating 1.52.4, as well as rating 1.56.7 when he won over 1950m at Addington eight months earlier, at his final appearance in New Zealand. He has raced only 16 times for nine wins and two seconds.
Interestingly, Never Ending, trained and driven by Justin Prentice, has not raced over 1730m. He will start from the No. 6 barrier in the field of eight on Friday night, with Bettor Aim drawn at barrier No. 4, with Deni Roberts in the sulky.
Never Ending made a spectacular return to racing after a spell when he was eighth with 250m to travel before going five wide on the home turn and thundering home to snatch a last-stride victory over Tenzing Bromac at a 1.56.4 rate over 2536m last Friday week.
Bettor Aim broke down with a suspensory ligament injury after his run in the 2019 Golden Nugget, and about a year later an attempted comeback was abandoned.
“We brought him back after he recovered from his suspensory injury, but we couldn’t get him gaited properly,” said Greg Bond. “So, we decided to retire him and to deregister him. He then was in the paddock for two and a half years before Skye decided to put him back in work.
“It is all Skye’s project, and to her credit and to the horse’s credit Bettor Aim is ready to race again. He has been back in work for about six months, building him up and getting him ready.
“His work at home has been good, but I don’t think he’s going to come out and sit three deep and blow them away. However, we wouldn’t be racing him if he wasn’t ready to perform well.
“So far, so good. He was always going to be a genuine Free-For-All horse, and he will obviously improve off his first-up run.”
The Bonds have decided against giving Bettor Aim a workout in a recent trial before Friday night’s event. But the gelding excelled in a 2185m trial at Pinjarra on May 15 this year when he was driven by Roberts and led from barrier three in the field of four and was not extended in winning by a neck from Little Darling, rating 1.58.9, with final 400m sections of 29.1sec. and 27.7sec.
It promises to be a fascinating race on Friday night when tactics are sure to play a significant role in the outcome.
Hampton Banner is a speedy beginner, and Chris Lewis could well be tempted to attempt to burst to the front with the seven-year-old from the No. 5 barrier. But Soho Dow Jones (barrier one), Talks Up A Storm (two) and While They Pray (three) also possess excellent gate speed.