Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Fifty-one weeks ago, Aldo Cortopassi was a gruesome sight, with his face bloodied and swollen after being kicked in the face by a horse in a freak racing mishap at Gloucester Park.
Cortopassi, one of Western Australia’s finest drivers, was seriously considering quitting as a reinsman. A steel plate was inserted from below his left eye to the top of the eye to help mend the terrible damage received when a horse fractured a leg and fell, causing interference to other runners, including Cortopassi’s drive Allwoods Rocknroll.
Cortopassi was flung from the sulky and then was kicked in the face.
He has made a remarkable recovery after deciding against retiring after 30 years as an accomplished and successful reinsman— and now he has high hopes of achieving his greatest triumph in the sport he loves by driving Magnificent Storm to victory in Western Australia’s richest harness racing event, the $1 million TABtouch Nullarbor Slot race at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
It was a wonderful association he had formed with Magnificent Storm that determined his decision to continue his career in the sulky.
“Magnificent Storm has been a great horse for me, and he is the big part of why I came back to driving,” said the 46-year-old Cortopassi after the New Zealand-bred six-year-old had drawn perfectly at barrier No. 2 in the 2536m Nullarbor event.
“If there hadn’t been a horse like him, I probably wouldn’t have come back to driving. I probably would have retired and carried on just as a trainer. I had an orbital fracture; three fractures in my left eye socket. I had plastic surgery and a metal plate put in to fix up all the damage on the left side of my face.
“I had the same procedure that James Hird had in May 2002.” Hird, the Essendon captain, was seriously hurt when he stumbled and fell into the knee of his teammate Mark McVeigh in a match against the Fremantle Dockers at Subiaco Oval. A plate was inserted around his damaged left eye.
Cortopassi has driven Magnificent Storm in all but three of his 43 WA starts — twice when he was recovering from his injuries.
Magnificent Storm warmed up for this week’s important assignment in grand fashion with a superb victory over 2130m last Friday week when he began out wide at barrier eight, raced at the rear and was sixth at the bell before finishing powerfully and covering the final 400m sections in 28.7sec. and 27.3sec. to beat the fast-finishing Lavra Joe by a length, rating 1.54.5.
“He is now back to his four-year-old form,” said Cortopassi. “I know that the race was run to suit him, but just the way he accelerated excited me. I’m really looking forward to Friday. We have the gate speed to go to the front; everyone knows how quick he is off the arm.
“I don’t think any horse will be able to cross him. Typhoon Banner (barrier one) is a sit-sprint horse, and I expect he will be trailing us as far as he can. I think Lavra Joe (barrier three) will have a crack. At least that would put him in the firing line.
“I really want to win for the horse and for the owners because the horse deserves it, and some of his runs from bad draws have been massive. And the owners are a great group of people. Win, lose or draw, they’re always happy. They are in it for the ride, and they are loving it.
“I know that they (the other runners) are not going to give it to us. There are no certainties in racing. The first leg of the puzzle, with the barrier draw, has fallen into place. The next will be how the race is run.”
Cortopassi said that Magnificent Storm was an extremely quirky animal. “When he’s on, he’s on, and when he’s off, he is still a very good horse, who has got a great stride length and is so soft on the ground. He gets across the ground so easily and he has such a big motor and a big heart.
“Every time we come in after a hard run his heart rate is always sensational.”
Trainer Ray Williams (77) is looking for his greatest achievement in harness racing, and he is confident that Magnificent Storm is at the top of his game.
“We will be keen to get to the front, with Typhoon Banner being a sit and kick horse on our inside,” he said. “And I’d say that whatever horse drew barrier one would find it hard to keep Magnificent Storm out. He has a lot of speed and the 2536m will suit him.
“He has the speed to hold Lavra Joe out. He has shown that before. Lavra Joe is a really nice horse, but I don’t think he has any more speed than Magnificent Storm.”
Owner-trainer Ray Jones said that Lavra Joe was getting better with every run and was ready to produce the goods in the big race in which he will be handled by champion reinsman Chris Lewis.
“Drawn on the outside of Magnificent Storm makes it a bit awkward for Lavra Joe,” said Lewis. “Regarding tactics, I will mull things over during the next few days and work out what we’re going to do.
“We have plenty of options, and Lavra Joe has a good bit of versatility about him, for sure. The way he has improved lately it is not impossible to win, even if he sits on the outside of Magnificent Storm. But that will make it a lot harder task.”
Looming large as a major threat to Magnificent Storm and Lavra Joe is the brilliant New Zealand-bred five-year-old Betterzippit, a winner at five of his six Australian starts for Menangle trainer Jason Grimson after his 28 New Zealand starts produced five wins and six placings.
Betterzippit gave a spectacular exhibition of his ability last Saturday week when he began out wide at barrier No. 8 in a 1609m event at Menangle, raced three wide before bursting to the front after 250m. The 400m sections of the race whizzed by in 26.5sec., 28.5sec., 26.7sec. and 26.9sec. and Betterzippit won by four and a half lengths from Alta Orlando, rating 1.48.6.
The 29-year-old Grimson is one of the nation’s most exciting trainers, who has prepared the winner of the past two Interdominion championships, scoring with Boncel Benjamin, a $51 outsider who finished a head second to Expensive Ego at Menangle in December 2021 and was awarded the race on protest, and with $16 chance I Cast No Shadow, who trailed the pacemaker Act Now before finishing fast along the sprint lane to beat Torrid Saint at Melton last December.
I Cast No Shadow was handled by star 24-year-old reinsman Cam Hart, whose 843 wins include nine in Group 1 events. Hart, who has driven 67 winners this year, will drive Betterzippit on Friday night. It is generally anticipated that Hart will drive aggressively, and if that happens, the early pace could be a scorcher — and that would certainly help the sit-sprinters, including Jumpingjackmac, Mighty Ronaldo and Loyalist.
“I won’t be getting involved in any of the early speed battles,” said Jumpingjackmac’s driver Gary Hall Jnr. “I aim to drive him cold, and it would be nice to get the one-out, one-back or the one-out, two-back trail.”
Mighty Ronaldo’s driver Emily Suvaljko admitted that drawing the outside barrier (No. 9) was “not fantastic” and said: “We will just have to sit back and let it all unfold, and if there is any sort of tempo he is one horse who has a really sharp 400m to 500m sprint — and he will make the most of it.”
Loyalist, who will be driven by Suvaljko’s father Shannon from barrier No. 7, impressed two starts ago when he was ninth at the bell and seventh at the 600m before flying home, out six wide, to snatch a last-stride victory at a 1.53.8 rate over 2300m at Menangle. Then a fortnight later Loyalist settled in eighth place, was sixth at the 400m before finishing fast, out four wide, to be third behind Gliding Away, who rated 1.50.4 over 1609m at Menangle three Fridays ago.
Steel The Show, trained by Greg and Skye Bond, is the sole runner off the back line, leaving driver Deni Roberts a variety of options.
“He is definitely not without a chance, and he should have a good shot at it,” said Greg Bond. “Steel The Show was very competitive at top level in New Zealand. He has a lot of toughness and possesses good high speed.”
Jack Callaghan, who will drive star Sydney pacer Spirit Of St Louis, said that the six-year-old would be relying on a bit of luck after starting out wide at barrier eight. “It’s going to be pretty tricky from out there,” he said. “But he has come through his run at Gloucester Park last Friday (when fifth behind Lavra Joe) in good shape, and that effort should benefit him.”
Diego, trained by Gary Hall Snr and a winner at six of his past nine starts, will be driven by Maddison Brown from the awkward draw at barrier No. 6. Brown looks certain to be conservative and will be relying on the gelding’s strong finish.