Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Western Australia’s pacing maestro Gary Hall Jnr continues to amaze and delight harness racing fans with his remarkable skill, flair and ingenuity in the sulky.
The 40-year-old genius was at his brilliant best at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he drove with typical panache to land six winners — a feat that has not been performed by any other driver at the State’s pacing headquarters.
When he rated the $2.35 favourite Cooper to perfection to guide the four-year-old to an all-the-way victory in the HTA Setting New Standards In Hoisting Handicap, Hall recorded his sixth win on the ten-event program, and it was the fourth time he had chalked up six winners at a Gloucester Park meeting.
His other winners were Rascal ($1.55), Lord Rosco ($3.60), Never Ending ($1.30), Im Themightylucy ($5.50) and Euphoria ($7.80).
The only other drivers to notch six wins on a program in WA are Morgan Woodley (at Collie) and Ryan Warwick (at Kellerberrin).
Cooper’s victory took Hall’s tally of winners for the season to 143 — and this is the 18TH consecutive season that he has recorded a century of winners. His career record stands at 3511 wins, and horses he has driven have earned more than $45 million in prizemoney.
Hall has been a shining light since his very first drive in a race — in a C2 class 2650m mobile event at Pinjarra on July 26, 1998 — the day he celebrated his 16TH birthday by guiding the New Zealand-bred gelding Enhancer to victory over Of Auld Aberdeen.
His career has continued on an upward spiral since then, and he boasts a magnificent record of driving 68 Group 1 winners, including three Interdominion championships with Im Themightyquinn, the WA Pacing Cup eight times, the Fremantle Cup nine times, the Australian Pacing Championship a record five times and the Auckland Cup twice.
Hall’s other three drives on Friday night put up excellent performances, with Plutonium finishing third and Eighteen Carat and Jumpingjackmac each finishing fourth. Now, the next challenge for Hall — and others — is to become the first person to drive seven winners on a program.
It was on October 26, 2012, that Hall first landed six winners on the card — Libra Belle ($3.40), Remember El ($3), Soho Valencia ($1.60), Go West U Terror ($1.70), Im Themightyquinn ($1.60) and Tosti Boy ($1.70). His other drives on the program were Benjamin Banneker (third) and The Bantam (sixth).
Then on October 18, 2013, Hall won with Heavens Delight ($2.50), Toretto ($2.30), Askmenow ($1.20), The Ragpickers Dream ($1.20), This Time Dylan ($2.70) and Northview Cardle ($4.40). His other drives were In The Perfect Storm (second), Soho Cash (third), Jar Zinyo (fourth) and Uppy Son (sixth).
On May 15, 2020, Hall’s six winners were Balcatherine ($1.80), Mr Kiwi ($2.35), Mister Bushido ($2.30), Just Rockon Bye ($19.10), Gardys Legacy ($1.20) and Princess Mila ($1.10). His other drives were Chicago Bull (second), Always An Honour (third) and Machlani (fourth).
For the record, Cooper began brilliantly from out wide at barrier five on the front line in Friday night’s 2503m standing-start event to burst straight to the front. Hall then dictated terms with opening quarters of 31.7sec. and 30sec. before he gave Cooper’s rivals little chance of catching him with final 400m sections of 28.1sec. and 28.5sec.
Cooper went on to win by a metre from $4.20 chance Joey James, with Pontevivo ($23) finishing solidly from sixth at the bell to be third. Cooper completed a double for trainer Michael Young, who was successful earlier in the night with Im Themightylucy.
Cooper, a Mach Three four-year-old, is the fourth foal out of the Bettors Delight mare Angies Delight. He has done all his racing in WA for seven wins and two seconds from 15 starts for earnings of $49,081.