Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Veteran pacer Fanci A Dance, who had finished second at three of his five previous starts, ended a losing sequence of 18 when he gave a tough staying performance to score a narrow victory in the $18,500 Fly Like An Eagle Continues To Produce Top Line Juveniles Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The nine-year-old was a $13.10 chance from out wide at barrier seven, with champion reinsman Chris Lewis driving him for the first time since he finished fifth behind Mighty Ronaldo in the Bunbury Cup last March.
This was the tenth time Lewis had handled Fanci A Dance in a race. He had won with the gelding at Pinjarra in December 2016 and at Bunbury in July 2017.
Fanci A Dance, bred and owned by Busselton trainer Barry Howlett and his son Jimmy, has been a consistent performer who now has raced 77 times for 14 wins, 25 placings and stakes of $153,897. He is by Rock N Roll Heaven and is the fourth foal out of the Fake Left mare Fancipance.
Fancipance was also a tough performer who had 139 starts for 12 wins, 39 placings and $40,571. After competing in modest company in Queensland for many years Fancipance had her final ten starts in WA as a seven-year-old in 2007 when she won once and was placed once.
Fanci A Dance settled down in ninth position on Friday night after Kyle Symington had sent $51 outsider Power And Grace straight to the front from the outside barrier. Doc Holliday, the $2.30 favourite, took the lead 1200m from home and was soon joined by Fanci A Dance, who relished working hard in the breeze before taking a narrow lead 250m from home and winning by a head from Doc Holliday, rating 1.56.1 over the 2130m, with final quarters of 28.4sec. and 28.7sec.