Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Former Victorian pacer Minos revealed plenty of strength and staying power at his WA debut a fortnight ago, and now his new trainer-reinsman Lindsay Harper is setting the lightly-raced New Zealand-bred five-year-old the challenge of performing strongly as a sprinter.
Minos will begin from the No. 1 barrier in the $31,000 Nox World Cup Pace over 1730m at Gloucester Park on Friday night, and Harper is aiming to use the gelding’s good gate speed in a bid to set the pace.
“He is stepping up in grade, but I think he will handle it alright,” said Harper. “The plan is to hold up and lead.”
Minos excelled at his first appearance for just over eleven months when he began from the back line in a 2130m event last Friday week. He enjoyed an ideal sit in the one-out, two-back position before racing three wide in the final circuit on his way to winning from Rakero Raider and Lil Happy Fella, rating 1.57.1 after final quarters of 28.6sec. and 28.8sec.
“I still don’t know a lot about the horse,” said Harper. “His form over east was excellent, but when I trialled him a couple of months ago, he was just ordinary. So, I went back to the drawing board and when I gave him another trial three weeks ago, he was quite good.
“However, I thought he would need the run, first-up. But he won quite comfortably, and he has trained on from there. I’m happy with him, and he has the gate speed to lead. This run will give us a good insight to the horse. If he leads, he will be a really good chance.”
Among the opposition is the millionaire pacer Better Eclipse, who has the ability to overcome the disadvantage of beginning from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line. Better Eclipse, trained and driven by Gary Hall Jnr, has been forced to do a lot of the bullocking work at his recent appearances and is overdue for a change of fortune after finishing second at his past four starts.
Minos will need to be at his best to win the start, considering the known gate speed of many of his rivals, including Longreach Bay, Maximum Rock, Paul Edward and Rockandrollartist.
Trainer Aiden De Campo has chosen to drive Sorridere from out wide at barrier seven in preference to his stablemate Rockandrollartist, who be driven by Mitch Miller from the No. 6 barrier.
“Sorridere is a class horse but is not racing well,” said De Campo. “He pulled hard last week, and barrier seven is not ideal. If Rockandrollartist managed to find the front he would go close to winning.”
Hi Suga Rush was an extremely unlucky fourth behind the frontrunning Siangdi over 1730m last Friday night when he was hopelessly blocked for a clear run, and from barrier seven on Friday night he gets an excellent chance to return to the winning list in the 2130m Team Bond Pace over 2130m. He will be driven by Gary Hall Jnr for trainer Michael Young.