Ken Casellas | Race Replay
Delightful Peg maintained her unbeaten record in WA when she gave a stylish frontrunning display to win the $25,000 $9 Pints Every Friday Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The New Zealand-bred four-year-old mare, trained by Gary Hall Snr, impressed her reinsman Gary Hall Jnr, who said: “I’m excited by her, and she should continue to get better, and long-range plans include the Norms Daughter Classic and the Mares Classic later in the year.”
Delightful Peg, who shared favouritism at $2.90 with Fakenit and Penny Black, won the start from the No. 2 barrier and resisted an early challenge from Penny Black to set the pace, with moderate opening quarters of 31.2sec. and 29.1sec. before sprinting over the final 400m sections in 28.6sec. and 28.5sec.
She went on to win by a metre from Fakenit, who finished fast at her first outing for five months, after enjoying an ideal passage in the one-out, one-back position, following Penny Black, who finished third.
“We thought that with her racing pattern, leading and with Penny Black outside of us and keeping Delightful Peg honest would suit us,” said Hall Jnr. “And I’m surprised that she kicked away from Penny Black.”
Delightful Peg’s three wins from three WA starts have improved her record to 23 starts for six wins, three seconds and $89,935. She was the first leg of a driving treble for Hall Snr and Hall Jnr, who were successful later in the wintry night with Franco Motu and A Little Silence.
Miss Leopatra, a New Zealand-bred Bettors Delight three-year-old filly, completed a hat-trick of wins at Gloucester Park when she was a $7.10 chance from barrier six in the 1730m Book Into Steelo’s Pace.
Miss Leoptra, driven by Jocelyn Young for trainer Cameron Ross, was inconvenienced soon after the start when Typhoon Treasure paced roughly and broke, causing several runners to race wide. Sovereign Jewel ($23) led for the first 300m before Young sent Miss Leopatra to the front. She sped over the final quarters in 28.4sec. and 28.2sec. and won by 2m from the $2.05 favourite Wishing Belle, who finished determinedly from fourth with 220m to travel after racing in the one-out, one-back position.
Kyle Symington drove his first Gloucester Park winner since returning from a five-month stint of harness racing in America when the Ryan Bell-trained New Zealand-bred eight-year-old Tiger Royal revealed his toughness by racing in the breeze before getting to the front 380m from home and beating the $2.40 favourite Belly Up by a length in the 2130m TABtouch Nullarbor Pace.
Tiger Royal, a $5.20 chance from the No. 3 barrier, ended a losing sequence of 16, stretching back to May 2 last year when Symington brought him home with a well-timed burst from three back on the pegs to beat The Miki Taker and Lusaka in the Fremantle Cup Consolation over 2936m.