Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Lightly-race star pacer Tricky Miki has been successful in Group 1 feature events as a two, three and four-year-old, and his trainer Justin Prentice is now aiming to continue the sequence when the five-year-old runs in the $450,000 WA Pacing Cup on November 8.
Tricky Miki ended a losing sequence of six and bounced back to top form with an easy victory in the $31,000 Congratulations Gary Hall Junior 4000 Winners Pace over 2536m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The win came as a relief for Prentice and star reinsman Gary Hall Jnr after they were deeply concerned at Tricky Miki’s failure three weeks earlier when he broke into a gallop twice in running before finishing last in the Past President’s Cup, 210 metres behind the winner Mister Smartee.
That was when Tricki Miki was having his first start for five months and at the beginning of his campaign, with the WA Pacing Cup his main target.
“I don’t know what caused him to break at his first-up run,” said Prentice. “He has never been perfectly gaited, but he has never broken like that before. Maybe he panicked.
“I put a running head check on him tonight to give him that little bit more support. He is a good horse out in front, like he showed tonight. If he pulls up well, he will run in the $100,000 J. P. Stratton Cup next Friday night.
“I’ve got to give him a run between now and the Pacing Cup, so I would rather back him up next Friday night, rather than starting him a week before the Pacing Cup. Mighty Ronaldo will also contest the Stratton Cup as his lead-up for the Pacing Cup.”
Tricky Miki, the winner of the Golden Slipper in July 2021, the Westbred Classic for three-year-old colts and geldings in September 2022, the WA Derby in November 2022, and the Golden Nugget in December 2023, was the $2.10 second favourite in Friday night’s event.
Hall took full advantage of the No. 1 barrier by dashing Tricky Miki straight to the front and then setting the pace, with comfortable opening quarters of 30.5sec. and 29.4sec. followed by final 400m sections of 27.8sec. and 27.6sec. which saw him coast to victory by 8m over the $1.90 favourite Lavra Joe, who battled on gamely after racing in the breeze at his second appearance after a five-month absence. The winner rated 1.57.9.
Alcopony ($13) was a head away in third place after enjoying an ideal passage, one-out and one-back.
Tricky Miki has raced only 33 times for 13 wins and ten placings for stakes of $540,933.
Prentice is now looking forward to his champion four-year-old Never Ending returning to WA where his immediate mission is the $200,000 Golden Nugget on December 13.
Never Ending was due to have left Melbourne on Friday night for a road to trip to Sydney, and he is due to return to Perth on Tuesday after a flight from Sydney.
Victorian trainer Shane Sanderson has been working Never Ending for the past fortnight, with Prentice saying: “I should have time to get him up for the Golden Nugget.”
Also on the flight from Sydney is outstanding five-year-old Captain Ravishing, who has earned $545,015 from 11 wins and five placings from 22 starts, including his third placing behind Encipher and Leap To Fame in the $1,970,000 Eureka at Menangle on September 2. Captain Ravishing will be one of the main fancies for the $450,000 WA Pacing Cup on November 8.