Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Champion reinsman Gary Hall junior’s plan of trailing the pacemaker and favourite Catch A Wave in the $300,000 Retravision Fremantle Cup at Gloucester Park on Friday night required him to get off the pegs and get Mister Smartee into the clear at some stage in the final circuit and with sufficient time to sprint past the leaders.
Once Mister Smartee drew the inside barrier on the back line, immediately behind speedy beginner Catch A Wave, Hall made up his mind not to move off the pegs and pin his faith on being able to get clear in the final circuit.
Hall had an ideal opportunity with a lap to travel to ease out and push Gee Heza Sport out three wide. But he made a split-second decision to stay on the pegs and bide his time.
Gee Heza Sport was travelling comfortably in the one-out, one-back position, with Waverider dashing forward, three wide, to move outside that pacer.
“I had a trouble-free trip, but I did have some concern about getting off the pegs at the bell when Waverider was coming three wide,” explained Hall. “I thought about pushing off but decided against it.”
Hall was mindful that if he eased off the pegs then and pushed Gee Heza Sport three wide Mister Smartee would then be directly behind the breeze horse Minstrel, with Gee Heza Sport out three wide, and capable of keeping Mister Smartee in a watertight pocket.
“I was waiting for Waverider to drop off down the back, so I had to wait until Luke (McCarthy) got Gee Heza Sport in front of Waverider,” said Hall. “And it all worked out good.”
Hall eased Mister Smartee into the clear 350m from home, forcing Gee Heza Sport three wide, and approaching the home turn Deni Roberts got Minstrel past the tiring pacemaker Catch A Wave. But Mister Smartee, the $3.40 second fancy, carried too many guns and the five-year-old sprinted powerfully to burst to the front 90m from the post before going on to win by a length from Minstrel ($4.80), with Gee Heza Sport ($8.50) a neck away in third place. Catch A Wave ($2.90) finished three lengths behind Gee Heza Sport in fourth spot.
Catch A Wave, winner of the Fremantle Cup 12 months earlier, set a brisk pace and the final 400m sections were run in 29sec., 28.5sec., 28.1sec. and 28.4sec., with the winner rating 1.56.4 over the testing 2936m journey.
This was a notable victory for 75-year-old champion trainer Gary Hall Snr, his eleventh Fremantle Cup success, and it gave his 42-year-old son his tenth win in the rich Group 1 feature event.
Hall Snr now has trained 50 Group 1 winners, while Hall Jnr has driven 69 Group 1 winners. He has driven 80 winners in the first 18 weeks of the year and is now enjoying a 12-day holiday in Exmouth.
Mister Smartee, the least experienced runner in the race, has amassed $1,263,030 in prizemoney from 18 wins and two seconds from 23 starts in a remarkable career.
Hall Snr said that he had abandoned plans to take Mister Smartee to Brisbane to contest the rich Interdominion championship series in July. “He might be a year away from being up to that sort of travel,” he said.”
The New Zealand-bred Mister Smartee will go for a spell soon before being prepared for the $450,000 WA Pacing Cup over 2536m on December 12.
Hall Jnr was full of praise for Mister Smartee, saying: “I have driven a lot of good ones along the way, and he is right up there with the best. You can’t win these sort of races without a good horse.”
Hall and his father paid special tribute to Minstrel, saying that the eight-year-old’s effort, following his gallant third behind Mister Smartee in the $1.25 million Nullarbor the previous week was phenomenal.