Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Brilliant colt Waverider was all the rage as the $1.34 favourite for the 2130m Sell Your Car at Westside Auto Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
But he was upstaged by his smart stablemate Franco Encore, who was surprisingly shunned by punters after two wins and two placings from his previous six starts and went out at as a $46.90 outsider.
With trainer Ryan Bell’s No. 1 stable driver Kyle Symington opting to handle Waverider from the No. 7 barrier, Mitch Miller was delighted to drive Franco Encore for the first time.
Miller dashed Franco Encore straight to the front from barrier three, while Waverider soon obtained an ideal sit in the one-out, one-back position.
After a reasonable lead time of 36.8sec. Franco Encore had the luxury of coasting through the opening quarters of the final mile in 30.8sec. and 31.5sec. before increasing the tempo with final 400m sections of 28.3sec. and 27.5sec.
Waverider, who began a three-wide move 650m from home and moved alongside his stablemate at the 250m mark, wilted in the home straight to finish second, 5m from the winner who rated 1.57.1.
“Once I got that real easy second quarter (31.5sec.) Franco Encore was probably entitled to win,” said Miller. “He won with the plugs in, which was a good sign for him, going forward. He will be a contender in the feature events for three-year-olds and maybe will develop into a WA Derby prospect.
“I was happy to win tonight, after I drove two favourites for Ryan (Bell) two weeks ago, and both finished near last.”
Franco Encore has now earned $38,004 from four wins and five placings from 14 starts. He is a half-brother to Franco Edward (who was retired after his 18 starts produced 11 wins, five placings and $221,468) and Franco Ecuador (16 starts for seven wins, five placings and $81,733).