Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Lightly-raced six-year-old Prince Of Pleasure simply had a walk in the park when he strolled to victory in the $23,750 Bridge Bar Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Prince Of Pleasure, trained by Gary Hall Snr and driven by Gary Hall Jnr, was the hot $1.10 favourite from the prized No. 1 barrier in a field of five, and he was able to amble through the lead time in an extremely slow 38.9sec. and the opening quarters in 31.8sec. and 30.2sec.
He then dashed over the final 400m sections in 28.3sec. and 27sec. to win by 2m from stablemate and $4.40 second favourite Finvarra, who raced in fourth position in the Indian file affair before Stuart McDonald moved him to the breeze approaching the bell.
“We took advantage of gate one,” said Hall Jnr. “It was a five-horse field, and I thought that whichever horse led would win.”
Prince Of Pleasure, a gelding by Bettors Delight, is the second foal out of the Christian Cullen mare Holly Madison, who had 17 starts in New Zealand for five wins, five placings and $43,101.
His eight New Zealand starts produced one win and one placing, and his ten wins and three placings in WA have boosted his earnings to $116,824.