Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Four-year-old Dardy Boy has been placed at three of his past four starts and he makes strong appeal when he has bright prospects of making the most of a drop in class by winning the final event, the 2130m Allwood Stud Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The Kevin Keys-trained horse is versatile and there is a good chance that Shannon Suvaljko will not bustle him early from out wide at the No. 8 barrier and rely on his ability to unwind a powerful late burst.
Suvaljko has restrained Dardy Boy from unfavourable barriers at his past two starts in which he finished solidly for his third behind Fess Up and his second to Mister Ardee when he surged home from eighth at the bell.
The main dangers to Dardy Boy could be the polemarker Whoswhointhezoo and Let It Linga, the sole runner on the back line.
Nine-year-old Whoswhointhezoo has been plagued by bad draws and he should appreciate the No. 1 barrier. He is a capable frontrunner who will be handled by Deni Roberts, who chose to drive him in preference to noted pacemaker Hotfoot It, who will be driven by Chris Lewis from barrier three.
Roberts was in the sulky when the Phil Duggan-trained Hotfoot It led and won easily from Tinseltown over 2536m four starts ago. Roberts also drove Hotfoot It when the gelding was favourite and set the pace before wilting to fourth behind Bettorstartdreaming over 1730m last Friday night.
Gary Hall Jnr will drive Let It Linga for trainer Michael Young. He raced in the one-out, one-back position and was an unlucky fifth behind Bettorstartdreaming after being checked 110m from the finish.
Hotfoot It had to be driven hard for the first 150m before getting to the front in that event and he obviously was not suited by a fast opening 400m section of 28.7sec. in the 1730m event.
An interesting runner is nine-year-old Another Mouse, who will start from the No. 12 barrier for Coolup trainer Dan Costello and reinsman Mitch Miller. This will be Another Mouse’s third appearance at Gloucester Park, and his first at the track since he finished ninth behind Bolta on December 9, 2017. He made his debut at Gloucester Park as a three-year-old when he finished fifth behind Rock Diamonds on October 11, 2016.
Another Mouse had his first start after an absence of more than four years when he raced three back on the pegs and finished fourth in a field of five behind The Watch Maker at Narrogin last Saturday week.
Suvaljko also has sound winning prospects in the ninth event on Friday night, the 2536m Milne Feeds Pace, in which he will drive the Katja Warwick-trained Rascal from the coveted No. 1 barrier. Rascal is a good frontrunner, and Suvaljko will be keen to hold out veteran pacer Regal Cheval, who will start from barrier two and possesses excellent gate speed.
Rascal was a $41 outsider when he began from barrier four and enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and one-back, before finishing fast to be third behind The Mustang and Mea Culpa over 2130m last Friday week.