Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Mt Helena trainer Ray Williams produced Star Casino in fine fettle for his return to racing after a 15-week absence when Dylan Egerton-Green drove him to victory in the $19,000 Rex Far Too Good Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The New Zealand-bred five-year-old was the $2.70 favourite from barrier four, and he appeared to be in trouble when he raced three wide for the first 200m and then in the breeze for the next 500m before he was able to enjoy the ideal sit in the one-out, one-back position behind Lets Get Rockin, who had dashed forward from the rear to work in the breeze on the outside of the polemarker Withoutthetuh ($8).
After a third quarter of 28sec. Star Casino got to the front 120m from the post and held on grimly to beat the fast-finishing $2.80 second fancy Flying Rumour by a half-head, rating 1.57.1 over 2130m.
Veteran Rock Me Over ($31) finished with a spirited burst from tenth at the bell to be third.
“It probably worked out for us that Shannon (Suvaljko) was on our outside (with Flying Rumour in the final stages),” said Egerton-Green. “On the corner, Star Casino really lifted from there.
“He is a funny horse; he’s on the bit, flat-out, one minute, and off the bit the next. With more racing, he should keep improving. They (the connections) were hoping for a better preparation this time than the previous one (when he won once and was placed once from six starts).”
Star Casino is by Bettors Delight and is the eighth and last foal out of the Christian Cullen mare Star Of Venus (23 starts for two wins, six placings and $20,098). Star Casino now has had 48 starts for ten wins, nine placings and stakes of $124,160.
His 33 starts in New Zealand produced five wins and six placings, and he has had 15 starts in WA for five wins and three seconds. He gave a sample of his class when he won the Group 3 Four-Year-Old Championship at Gloucester Park last December when he defeated Alcopony and Hoppys Way.