Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Star reinsman Gary Hall Jnr described Glenledi Chief as awesome after he had driven the New Zealand-bred six-year-old to an impressive victory in the $30,000 Remembering Diver Hughes Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Hall did not bustle the $1.80 favourite at the start from barrier No. 5 and was content to settle the gelding in seventh position in the field of eight before dashing him forward after a little more than a lap had been covered to move into the breeze while $23 chance Sangue Reale was setting the pace.
This enabled Minstrel ($3.80) to have a breather in the one-out, one-back position after he had raced three wide for the first lap. Glenledi Chief coasted to the front 520m from home, and though Minstrel moved to within a neck on the home turn he was not extended and won by a half-length, rating 1.56.7 over the 2536m journey, with final quarters of 28.7sec. and 28.8sec.
“He is going awesome and is flying,” said Hall. “I’ve been doing nothing out of the gate with him and then putting him into the race after that, and he’s loving it (in the breeze).”
Perfect Major ($13) caught the eye when he was seventh at the bell before running on, out wide, to be third.
Driver Deni Roberts was full of praise for Minstrel, saying: “My plan was to go forward, but they were going so quickly that I had to hang out there (three wide) until they backed off. But they didn’t really back off that much. He did a power of work to get round to the breeze, and that’s why he had to take cover.
“The runs of Minstrel and Glenledi Chief were exactly what we wanted going into the Pinjarra Cup (on Monday week).”
Glenledi Chief looms as a major prospect in the Pinjarra Cup, with his past eleven starts producing six wins, three seconds, one third and one fifth. He has earned $281,357 from 20 wins and 17 placings from 59 starts.