Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Hall of Fame trainer Gary Hall snr lavished praise on inexperienced five-year-old Prince Of Pleasure, and he declared the sky was the limit for the New Zealand-bred pacer after he had made an outstanding Australian debut at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Prince Of Pleasure went into the 2130m Choices Flooring Pace with a record of one win and one second from eight starts in New Zealand, and he gave a devastating performance to outclass his rivals, rating 1.56.5 in beating $34 outsider Valbonne by three lengths without being extended.
This was Prince Of Pleasure’s first start for 18 months — since he revealed blistering pace to win over 2200m at Alexandra Park on July 1, 2020.
He arrived in WA in early October 2020, but persistent leg problems kept him out of action.
“He is a top-class horse, and if he stays sound, he could be anything,” said Hall. “I love him, but he has been a nightmare with his leg problems. He has bowed both tendons. He is sound at the moment and is very, very quick.
“A few weeks ago, I drove him on my track at Serpentine and he ran home (over the final 400m) in 26.3sec. at the end of a three-minute 1200m workout. He beat Heez Our Perseus by six lengths.
“I have driven a lot of good horses, and he is a really good horse. I can’t recall having driven a horse before who has sprinted home in 26.3sec. on the track; maybe Quinny (Im Themightyquinn) once. I’m going to go through the classes with him and win next year’s WA Pacing Cup, provided he stays sound.”
Hall selected Prince Of Pleasure after watching him score a brilliant win at Auckland’s Alexandra Park, and the horse is now raced by eight of his faithful stable clients.
Prince Of Pleasure, the $1.40 favourite, dashed to the front 600m after the start and coasted to victory after final quarters of 28.7sec. and 28.3sec., with star reinsman Gary Hall jnr not bothering to pull the ear plugs.
“He just put four lengths on them in a twinkling of an eye,” said an admiring Hall snr.