Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Gnangara trainer Luke Edwards declares that August Moon is at the top of her game, and he is confident that she will give him his second group 2 winner by proving too smart for her eleven rivals in the $100,000 Westside Auto Wholesale Westbred Classic for three-year-old fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“She is spot on, and I’m very happy with the draw (barrier three),” said the 33-year-old Edwards, who prepared Leap Of Faith for her victory in the group 2 Easter Cup in April 2021.
August Moon, to be driven by Gary Hall Jnr, has won in fine style at each of her four starts in her current preparation, and goes into Friday night’s 2130m feature event with a record of 15 starts for eight wins, four seconds and one third placing.
“She deserves to win a big race,” said Edwards, who pointed out that August Moon had not seen the pegs in her four victories in July and August.
“Junior (Hall) has options, but I’d like to see her in front. She raced with the blinkers on at her most recent start (last Friday week) when we went back. We will leave the blinkers on this week, and I think Junior will come out (in a bid for the early lead).
“It has always been the plan to be a bit easy on her, and now I have screwed her down in the past week. We don’t need to improve her; we just need to keep her how she is. She’s had a lot of meat on her the whole preparation and she has trimmed up nicely.”
August Moon warmed up for this week’s big race with a powerful performance last Friday week when she started from the outside barrier (No. 9) was restrained to the rear and was in 11TH place 900m from home before she began a three-wide move and surged to the front with 120m to travel and win by a half-length from the pacemaker Our Sandy Shore after a final quarter of 28.8sec.
Zephyra, who has had ten starts for seven wins and three seconds, will start out wide at barrier eight, but is capable of a strong performance. She disappointed at her second outing after a spell when she set the pace and faded to finish second to Elsamay over 2185m at Pinjarra on Monday of last week.
Trainer-reinsman Dylan Egerton-Green is expecting a better effort this week. “She had her chance to win at Pinjarra but she overraced a little bit,” he explained. “I have changed a few things and she should be fitter for the run and, hopefully, be right there at the finish.”
The Barry Howlett-trained Flametree returned to form when she notched her eighth win, with a strong-finishing effort to beat Purest Copper by a head in the 2569m WA Country Oaks at Bunbury on Wednesday of last week. She will start from barrier No. 6.
Aiden De Campo, who trains and drives Purest Copper, is confident his filly will produce a strong performance after starting from barrier four.
“She sat behind the leader and her run at Bunbury was just okay,” he said. “But she was racing first-up for six weeks, and her work this morning (Tuesday) was good, and I expect her to run a good race. She is more of a place chance than a winning chance.”