Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Recent New Zealand-bred import Im The Black Flash emerged as a leading contender for the $150,000 Golden Slipper on September 30 when he gave a sparkling display of his raw speed and strength to win the Allwood Stud Farm Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
His brilliant victory has left champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr with a serious quandary regarding his choice of drive in the Golden Slipper — an extremely perplexing choice between Im The Black Flash and other recent brilliant two-year-old winners Never Ending and Valedictorian.
“I wish the three of them were all a different age,” he said. “It will be a difficult decision to choose which horse I’ll drive in the Golden Slipper. It’s hard to line them up. They’re all different.
“Im The Black Flash couldn’t have been more impressive tonight, and he should improve. His gate speed was good, and his manners, like the other two, are really good. All three drive exceptionally well.
“Early in tonight’s race when the speed was fast Im The Black Flash felt as though he was doing it within himself at that speed. Then he got a good breather in the middle.”
Im The Black Flash, trained by Gary Hall Snr, was making his Australian debut after his two appearances in New Zealand resulted in a fourth and a second placing in Group 2 feature events in April.
He was the $1.30 favourite and began speedily from barrier three, but then raced head and head on the outside of the polemarker Hez All The Rage before getting to the front after 450m. The lead time was a sizzling 34.9sec. before Im The Black Flash relaxed and coasted over the opening quarters of the final mile in 31.5sec. and 31.7sec.
Im The Black Flash then increased the tempo and sped over the final two 400m sections in 28.5sec. and 28.4sec. to win by two lengths from Hez All the Rage, rating a slick 1.57.1 over 2130m.
Im The Black Flash is by champion sire Bettors Delight and is the eighth foal out of the In The Pocket mare Simply Devine, who managed one placing from four starts in September and October 2006.
Simply Devine’s second foal Start Dreaming (by American Ideal) was a brilliant youngster who raced 19 times for seven wins, six placings and $173,682. Start Dreaming finished second to The Orange Agent in the Group 1 Northern Oaks over 2700m at Alexandra Park in February 2015 and was second to The Orange Agent in the Group 1 1609m Three-Year-Old Diamond Classic at Ashburton in May 2015.
Start Dreaming also raced six times in Australia for two wins and two seconds, with her wins including the Group 2 Robin Dundee Classic over 1609m at Menangle in February 2016.
Im The Black Flash’s win on Friday night rekindled memories of outstanding pacer Satinover, widely known and adored in Western Australia in the 1970s and early 1980s when he was known as The Black Flash.
Satinover, winner of 28 races for trainer Colin Joss, won 28 races and he featured in one of the most memorable nights in the history of Gloucester Park when a crowd of 20,000 screaming fans witnessed The Match Race of the Century over 1900m and between champions Satinover and Pure Steel on May 2, 1980.
Satinover, driven by Max Johnson, went into the match race as favourite with a winning sequence of 19. He set the pace and was defeated by Pure Steel, driven by Phil Coulson.
Hall Jnr never saw Satinover race. He was born on July 26, 1982, after Satinover had been retired. But Hall remembers that the first horse he drove at trials was a son of Satinover, a pacer named Satinease.