Talented reinsman Kyle Harper drove stablemates Bushwacked and The Wildcard to smart wins over 1684m at Pinjarra last Monday week, and he has decided to handle Bushwacked in the Channel 7 Pace for two-year-olds at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“Just from the barrier draws and at this point in their campaigns I think Bushwacked is the better racehorse right now,” he said. Bushwacked will start from the No. 4 barrier in the 1730m event, with The Wildcard at No. 5. The youngsters were bred and are owned and trained by Shane Quadrio, who has engaged Harper’s father Lindsay to handle The Wildcard.
“Bushwacked can burn out of the gate and run some pretty good times,” said Kyle Harper. “I expect him to run a pretty good race, and he’s going to have to be on his game because it is a good field. If he can find the front Bushwacked will be pretty hard to run down.”
Chris Voak also had the choice of two drives in the race, and he has opted for the Barry Howlett-trained Linebacker from the No. 2 barrier ahead of the Ross Olivieri-trained Griffin Lodge, who will start from barrier three and will be driven by Gary Hall Jnr.
Voak drove Linebacker at his debut when the New Zealand-bred gelding raced in the breeze and was checked and broke before finishing a well-beaten second to Meteoroid over 1823m at Narrogin last Saturday night. He also drove Griffin Lodge at his debut over 1684m at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon when the colt sat behind the pacemaker before finishing solidly to win easily from Luke Attack.
“it was a difficult decision,” said Voak. “Both are capable of winning. Linebacker is a very promising horse and has extreme upside to him but is still a little raw. Griffin Lodge also has plenty of upside and is probably more of a racehorse now.”
The best performed runner in the field is Peter Tilbrook’s Seven No Trumps, who will be driven by Shannon Suvaljko from the outside in the field of six. The colt began brilliantly from barrier five and led all the way when an easy winner over Alcopony at a 1.56.6 rate over 1730m last Friday night. A similar performance will make him extremely hard to beat again.
By Ken Casellas