Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Dark Eyes moved a step closer to qualifying for a start in the $200,000 WA Derby on November 1 when he gave a solid frontrunning display to win the 2130m $19,000 TABtouch Scan My Bet Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
This was his third win from his past six starts, and the Mike Reed-trained Bettors Delight gelding has now earned $58,787 from seven wins and six placings from 29 starts.
Dark Eyes, the $3.40 favourite from the No. 2 barrier, ambled through the lead time in 38.6sec. and coasted through the opening quarters in 31.8sec. and 30.8sec. before dashing over the final 400m sections in 28.9sec. and 28.1sec. He rated 1.59 in beating The Beaudster ($11) by a half-length, with $8.50 chance Flying Rumour, a stablemate of Dark Eyes, finishing strongly into third place.
“I was always confident of winning,” said leading reinsman Shannon Suvaljko. “There were two horses out wide with good gate speed, so we had to time the gate right and get to the front, and once we got there easily, we were set for victory.
“Dark Eyes can reel off a quick half, and he does only what he has to. When the two main dangers were sitting up, we just controlled the race and made it a sprint home.”