Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr is confident that the brilliant five-year-old Hurricane Harley will give him a record fourth victory in the Garrard’s Howard Porter Memorial at Gloucester Park on Friday night by proving the master of his eight rivals in the $30,000 group 3 feature event.
The Victorian-bred Hurricane Harley, who is trained by Justin Prentice, gave a sample of his class last Friday week when he finished strongly to win the group 2 Mount Eden Sprint at his second appearance in WA and after an absence of nine months.
“He improved off his first-up run (when fifth behind Perfect Major in the Stratton Cup), and he should improve off his latest run,” said Hall. “And if he has improved by the same amount, he will be very hard to beat this week. His latest run was a step in the right direction.”
The Porter Memorial was first run in 1978 when Pure Steel beat Virgil Queen, and Hall and Mark Reed are the only drivers who have won this event three times, with Hall being successful with Fletcher Christian (2003), Crusader Banner (2015) and Chicago Bull (2020). Reed has won the event with Tricky Vic (2002), Buck The Odds (2004) and Maczaffair (2018).
Hurricane Harley is awkwardly drawn at barrier No. 6 in Friday night’s 2130m race, and though the stallion possesses sparkling gate speed, Hall is quite likely to be content to drive him with a sit, considering that Fanci A Dance (barrier one), Babyface Adda (two) and Miracle Moose (three) are speedy beginners.
Miracle Moose and Babyface Adda look to be Hurricane Harley’s main dangers, with Ravenswood trainer Nathan Turvey upbeat about Miracle Moose’s winning prospects.
Miracle Moose, to be driven by Emily Suvaljko, had a stroll in the park when he led and was untroubled to win by three lengths from Has No Fear over 2185m at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon. He had plenty in reserve when he sprinted over the final 400m sections in 28.3sec. and 27.8sec.
Miracle Moose set the pace and covered the final 800m in 55.7sec. when he won easily from My Carbon Copy at a 1.56.2 rate at Gloucester Park at his previous outing. He meets stiffer opposition this week, but Turvey believes the New Zealand-bred five-year-old has the ability to extend his winning sequence.
“It all worked out nicely on Monday when Miracle Moose was not extended,” said Turvey. “That run will do him good, and I think he is up to them in Friday night’s race.”
Boyanup trainer-reinsman Cody Wallrodt has Babyface Adda racing in peak form and the Rich And Spoilt five-year-old will have an army of supporters. The gelding enjoyed an ideal trip in the one-out, one-back position before running home powerfully over the final 250m to win a 2130m event by a head from Galactic Star last Friday night. That followed an all-the-way win and a fast-finishing second to Hurricane Harley at his two previous starts.
The Barry Howlett-trained Fanci A Dance steps up in class, but his last-to-first victory last Friday night was a wonderful performance, and Chris Voak is sure to attempt to steal a march on his rivals by setting a solid pace.
Callan Suvaljko will drive Ideal Liner from barrier five for trainer Gary Hall snr. Ideal Liner set the pace and finished an extremely close third behind Babyface Adda and Galactic Star last Friday night. Suvaljko has won the Porter Memorial behind Symbols Son (2001) and Joe Midas (2005).
Chris Lewis, who drove Hilarion Star to victory in the 1992 Porter Memorial, will drive the Ross Olivieri-trained Perfect Major in Friday night’s event in which he will be tested from the outside barrier in the field of nine.
“We will need a bit of luck,” said Lewis. “It’s not easy when you draw nine in a fast-class race.”
Perfect Major began out wide at barrier seven in the 2130m Stratton Cup two starts ago when he was last in the field of nine 300m from home before unleashing a paralysing sprint to gain a thrilling last-stride victory over Vampiro.