Ken Casellas | Photo: Gloucester Park Harness Racing
Back in the 1960s champion trainer-reinsman Jim Schrader despaired of winning a city event with an old gelding named Clancy Bar, who failed at 60-odd attempts to win a Qualifying Stakes (a metropolitan maiden) and was placed on the banned list.
In desperation, Schrader removed the hopples and prepared Clancy Bar as a free-legged pacer. The ban was lifted, and remarkably Clancy Bar won several times at Gloucester Park and graduated to open-class company.
Free-legged pacers remain a rarity in harness racing, world-wide — and one in particular looks destined to make a name for himself. He is a star in the making, the New Zealand-bred four-year-old El Chema, a high-priced yearling who has managed just 23 starts for eight wins and ten placings since arriving in Western Australia 39 months ago.
El Chema, trained by Justin Prentice, won on debut as a two-year-old at Gloucester Park in April 2020, but various problems have seen him race at Gloucester Park only six times.
The son of Bettors Delight raced with hopples for his first nine starts, but he resented them and was inclined to bolt. At times, he broke in the score-up and at the start in mobiles.
Then after a satisfactory qualifying trial, racing free-legged, El Chema has competed without hopples at his past 14 starts. Even then, at his most recent appearance at Gloucester Park, on May 17 this year, he broke badly in the score-up, losing ten lengths, before coming from last at the 700m with a three-wide burst which took him into the lead 300m later and on to an easy three-length victory with final quarters of 27.8sec. and 28.4sec.
Now, if outstanding young driver Emily Suvaljko can get El Chema away smoothly from the No. 1 barrier in the 2130m Westral Plantation Shutters Pace on Friday night he should be capable of leading and winning.
El Chema gave a wonderful performance to finish a half-length second to the brilliant Lavra Joe in the Group 1 Pinjarra Four-Year-Old Classic three Mondays ago, a week after he had come from eleventh and last at the 600m to finish an excellent second to rising star Prince Of Pleasure at a 1.53.3 rate over 1684m at Pinjarra.
On Friday night, Suvaljko faces the task of getting El Chema away smoothly, with the strong probability of Stamford, from barrier No. 2, beginning speedily in a bid for the early lead.
Stamford, driven by Aiden De Campo, began fast from out wide at barrier nine to dash past Lavra Joe and into the lead 200m after the start of the Group 2 Four-Year-Old Championship at Gloucester Park last Friday night. Lavra Joe regained the lead 250m later and went on to win easily, with Stamford finishing an excellent fourth.
“Stamford was really good last week,” said De Campo. “It will be interesting whether we can get across El Chema at the start. Stamford is a tough horse and will run a good race.”
Suvaljko knows that she faces an acid test to get El Chema away smoothly. She recalls driving another free-legged pacer, Miss Serenade, from barrier four at Gloucester Park on May 24 this year when the mare galloped badly at the start and finished a distant last.
Suvaljko has driven El Chema twice for a fast-finishing win at Bunbury in October and for his close last-start second to Lavra Joe when the gelding beat the talented Jumpingjackmac into third place.
“If we had got to the sprint lane a bit earlier, he would’ve given it a bit of a shake,” said Suvaljko. “We had a cosy run, but the horse went very well. El Chema has galloped in the past, usually when he has been fired up on the gate.
“The twice I’ve driven him he has started on the back line and has been sensible, following a helmet. So, I guess it is going to be quite touchy from barrier one. He does have brilliant gate speed, and at his latest start at Pinjarra he held Kimble’s back easily.
“If El Chema does everything right he’s got the speed to hold the other horses. It all depends on if he does everything all right. Ability is not the question.”
Whether El Chema will ever reach the heights of some of Australia’s best free-legged pacers is most unlikely, but he certainly looks a star of the future.
The New South Wales bred Lawn Derby is probably Australia’s finest unhoppled pacer. In the 1930s he won 31 races and smashed records on almost every track on which he started. Local fans relished watching the free-legged NSW-bred Avonnova contest the Interdominion championship series in November and December 2015 when he finished second in qualifying heats behind Philadelphia Man and Devendra before running fourth in the $1.3 million final behind Lennytheshark at Gloucester Park.
There is also no doubt whatsoever about the most famous free-legged pacer of all time — the amazing American stallion Dan Patch who retired in 1909 as the holder of nine world records.