Ken Casellas | Photo: Gloucester Park Harness Racing
Flametree recorded a considerably slower time in winning her heat of the Diamond Classic than the gross times of the other heat winners Jackie Daniels and Zephyra, but that is not affecting the confidence of her reinsman Mitch Miller as he plans to set the pace in the Group 1 $100,000 TABtouch Diamond Classic at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Flametree, prepared at Busselton by Barry Howlett, has drawn barrier one and Miller said that he was not concerned that the filly led and won her heat on Tuesday of last week when she ran the 2130m trip in 2min. 44.8sec. and rated 2.4.5 which was much slower than the times recorded by Jackie Daniels (2.40.9 at a 2.1.5 rate) and Zephyra (2.41.2 at a 2.1.8 rate).
“Heat times are not the bee all and end all,” said Miller. “In her heat I was quite happy to let Flametree flop around and do what she wanted. When she came out of the gate and was settled and relaxed, I was happy for her to stay that way.
“She went to the line with the plugs in. The blinkers were off, and it was the first time she had been in a race without any head gear on, and with an open bridle I had to tap her up a couple of times up the straight just to keep her mind on the job. She had plenty left.
“I think there will be plenty of pressure on early in Friday night’s race, and I’m not expecting her to get it all her own way. Zephyra looked very smart in her heat when she did everything right and zipped home pretty quick.
“Barrier draws are definitely to my advantage, but I have a lot of respect for a few of Flametree’s rivals. Plan A will be to lead.”
Jackie Daniels, trained and driven by Brett Smith, faces a difficult task from out wide at barrier No. 8, while Zephyra, trained and driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, is a talented filly who appears certain to fight out the finish and prove hard to beat.
Zephyra will start from barrier seven, and Egerton-Green said: “I give her a good push. And the draw is only a starting position. I take no notice of times run in the heats, and I give my filly a great chance. Her work has been good since her heat win, and she has been happy in the paddock.”
Egerton-Green is hoping to go one better in the Diamond Classic, after having to be content with finishing second with Star For Me behind Always An Angel two years ago.
Zephyra was bred and is part-owned by Jesse Moore, who owned and trained her dam Tricky Styx, who was driven to victory by Aiden De Campo in the 2014 Diamond Classic when she beat Soho Tokyo by a head.
Nathan Turvey, who trained and drove Bethany Aitch to victory in the 2015 Diamond Classic (run over 1609m at Bunbury’s Donaldson Park track), will handle Bunbury trainer Terry Keenan’s promising filly Spiritofanangel (barrier three), while Ryan Warwick (American Monarch) and Kim Prentice (Our Lililou) also will be seeking their second success in the Diamond Classic.
Warwick won the race last year with the Greg and Skye Bond-trained In The Spotlight, and Prentice trained and drove Eagle Rox to an easy all-the-way victory over stablemate Bettor Dreams in 2012.
De Campo, who has fond memories of Tricky Styx’s win in 2014, prepares two of the runners in Friday night’s race — American Monarch and Magnolia Pearl(Trent Wheeler).
“I think American Monarch (barrier No. 11) will improve on her first-up third behind Flametree in a heat, and if things go her way, she’s a decent each-way chance,” said de Campo. “Magnolia Pearl was a first-up third to Zephyra but is likely to struggle from barrier nine.”