Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
11,325 days is a very long time in anyone’s language. That represents the time span between Bill Hayes’s two most recent driving successes in a metropolitan-class event at Gloucester Park.
The 74-year-old Pinjarra hobby trainer-reinsman ended this 30-year gap when he prepared and drove smart five-year-old Lucca to an impressive victory in the $21,000 Summit Bloodstock Pace on Friday night.
Lucca, the $1.20 favourite, set the pace and beat Bellezza Nera by five metres, rating 1.55.8 over the 2130m journey.
This gave Hayes his first city-class win since he guided Flaming Lane, a 14/1 chance he bred, owned and trained, to a thrilling victory by a head over Kevandi in a 2100m stand on January 8, 1993.
Since then, he has driven two Gloucester Park winners in country stakes events, Flaming Lane on January 22, 1993, and Western Whisper in a C1-class race on April 19, 1999.
Stable supporters celebrated Lucca’s victory with uninhibited joy, while Hayes remained cool and composed, saying: “That’s my first Gloucester Park winner for a long time, but I’m not really emotional about things like that.
“I started driving when I was 16 or 17, and I won with Shadow Royal at Bunbury with my second drive in a race.”
Hayes was a prominent reinsman in his early days and landed about three hundred winners before his 30TH birthday.
A notable highlight was when he drove Chryso Mou to victory over Radar Spear and Gleaming in the 1977 WA Oaks. He also drove Loretta’s Choice and Lolly Poppins to many victories in the 1970s.
Lucca’s win on Friday night gave Dan Walsh his first metro-class win as an owner. He races the American Ideal gelding in partnership with his sister May Leitch, who enjoyed plenty of success with Jasper Whitby, who raced 142 times for 12 wins, 32 placings and $84,769 in stakes.
Walsh has had a licence to train pacers for about twelve years and has won seven races, with Castrato’s five wins including successes at Bunbury in 2005, Harvey in 2007 and Gloucester Park in 2008 when prepared by Walsh.
Walsh, a 57-year-old social worker who is currently having a well-earned break from his job, was on the lookout for a New Zealand-bred pacer a couple of years ago.
He spent plenty of time watching video recordings and was particularly interested in a certain horse in a race at Forbury Park in July 2022. “The horse I was interested in finished well back, and I was taken by Lucca, who finished second,” he said.
“I said I was looking at the wrong horse. Peter Larkin was trying to find a horse for us, and I was able to buy Lucca for $56,000.”
That second placing came at Lucca’s third race start when he was resuming after a ten-month absence. He began from the back line and raced in tenth position. He started a three-wide burst with 550m to travel and went four wide on the home turn before sprinting fast to finish second to Aint No Angel.
Lucca had made a spectacular debut 13 months earlier when he won as a two-year-old over 2200m at Forbury. He raced four wide for the first 250m and then was trapped three wide before moving to the breeze at the bell. He then got a sit, one-out and one-back, with 850m to travel and surged home strongly to hit the front in the final 75m and beat Owes Me Dough by a head.
Lucca began from the No. 1 barrier on Friday night and was crossed by Bellezza Nera after 150m. Hayes did not panic, and he sent Lucca to the front 100m later. After opening quarters of 30.7sec. and 29.4sec. Lucca sped over the final 400m sections in 28.1sec. and 28.2sec. to win easily.
After one win and a second placing from three New Zealand starts Lucca arrived in WA in August 2022 and has raced 20 times in the State for six wins and nine placings for earnings of $62,118.
He is by American Ideal and is the first foal out of Bettors Delight mare Black Raine, who had three starts for one win (as a three-year-old at Forbury in February 2017). Black Raine’s dam Rona Lorraine won the Group 1 Caduceus Club Classic for two-year-old fillies at Alexandra Park in April 2008.