Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
When Gary Hall Jnr and Mark Lewis were youngsters in the late 1980s and early 1990s they delighted in each other’s company at Gloucester Park, romping around on the grassy banks as their fathers Gary Hall Snr and Chris Lewis drove against each other on the track.
Those were the early days of their friendship which endured and grew stronger over the years, even when Lewis was making a name for himself as a reinsman and a trainer in America for 15 years and Hall Jnr was exciting harness racing fans with his magical skills in the sulky in Perth.
It was an emotional Hall who drove at Gloucester Park on Friday night as he struggled to come to terms with the death earlier in the week of his close mate.
Hall felt as though he was in a strange sort of bubble when he went out to drive star Boyanup trainer Justion Prentice’s star pacer Mighty Ronaldo in the Group 3 $50,000 Nova Winter Cup.
“Everything just fell into place tonight,” said Hall after guiding Mighty Ronaldo, a $16.20 chance, to a brilliant victory in the 2536m feature event.
“There was like a calm over the whole race during which I didn’t have any concerns at any stages. It all went smoothly for the whole race.”
The 42-year-old Hall dominated the ten-event program, landing five winners, and it was a poignant moment when he went across the line to score with Sweet Pins in the final event as he looked skywards and raised his right thumb in a subdued but heartfelt gesture to Lewis, who he described as a great mate.
This was Hall’s tenth victory as a reinsman in the Winter Cup, and he continues to be a much-admired superstar who has driven 4161 winners in an outstanding career.
Lewis drove one winner in Australia, Kurt Hanover, on January 5, 1998, before travelling to the United States the following year where he made his mark, landing 245 winners from 2217 drives and training 61 winners from 372 starters.
Since returning to WA in 2014 he has owned several smart pacers and has been a wonderful assistant in the stables of his mother Debra and his father, Hall Of Fame champion reinsman Chris Lewis.
Hall said he was surprised that Mighty Ronaldo was a comparative outside in Friday night’s race, in which the evergreen seven-year-old was awkwardly drawn at barrier seven.
“I liked him, and I couldn’t believe his price,” he said. “He went super first-up the previous week when he was blocked for a clear run in finishing seventh behind Gee Heza Sport.”
Prentice, who celebrated his 37TH birthday on Saturday, said that after consultation with Hall it was decided to go forward at the start. “We thought that if we went back at the start, we would be giving the others too big a head start.”
So, Hall drove Mighty Ronaldo out hard, and the gelding raced three wide before getting to the breeze after 550m, and then gaining a perfect sit, one-out and one-back, as Deni Roberts dashed the $1.75 favourite Gee Heza Sport to the breeze with $9 chance Rolling Fire setting the pace.
Mighty Ronaldo finished with a sparkling burst to take the lead 55m from the post before winning by a length from $23 chance Brickies Dream, rating 1.56.9 after the final three 400m sections were run in 28.8sec., 28.4sec. and 28.7sec. Gee Heza Sport was a neck second behind the pacemaker Rolling Fire at the 220m before wilting to finish sixth.
Hall said he was confident when he saw that Gee Heza Sport was under the pump approaching the home turn while Mighty Ronaldo was bolting.
“Mighty Ronaldo won very comfortably,” said Hall. “He has been suspect at times, going forward (at the start), but that was when he was younger.”
Mighty Ronaldo, bred by Trevor Lindsay, was purchased for $22,000 at the 2019 Perth APG yearling sale, and is raced by a syndicate of twenty, including Prentice.
He has now earned $963,842 from 14 wins and 22 placings from 69 starts. His wins have included three at Group 1 level, the Golden Slipper in July 2020, the WA Derby in April 2021, and the Fremantle Cup in January 2023.
He has also won two Group 2 races and one at Group 3 level, as well as finishing third behind Diego in the WA Pacing Cup in January 2023 and third to Minstrel in the WA Pacing Cup in November 2024.
“This was his first win for 16 months, but he has been so consistent for many years,” said Prentice. “In big races, he’s got to be driven a certain way. If you get luck, you get it; and if you don’t, you don’t get it. He has been unlucky plenty of times.
“He hasn’t had a winter campaign for a while, but I’ve brought him back this year and have set him for the Winter Cup and the $50,000 August Cup (on August 22) because he is getting older.”
Prentice, who trained and drove Never Ending for his win in the 2024 Winter Cup, said that he was more than happy with Rolling Fire’s fifth placing on Friday night, and that he would also be setting the five-year-old for the August Cup.