Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Highly-regarded New Zealand-bred colt Im The Black Flash will be the centre of attraction when he makes his Australian debut in the $20,250 Allwood Stud Farm Pace for two-year-olds at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The Bettors Delight colt, who is trained by Gary Hall Snr and will be driven by Gary Hall Jnr, will start from the No. 3 barrier in the field of nine and should prove mighty hard to beat, following excellent efforts at his first two outings, in group 2 company in April this year.
“I’m not saying he is as good, but he reminds me a little bit of The Falcon Strike,” said Hall Jnr. “He is little, and he drives a bit like The Falcon Strike and stretches his head out like The Falcon Strike used to.”
Im The Black Flash has not appeared in trials in WA, but his work on the training track has been good. “He didn’t work all that good when he raced from behind, but when he led up, he blew them away,” said Hall.
Im The Black Flash, who is registered as a bay, looks more like a brown or black pacer. The Falcon Strike, who was a bay, was a champion pacer who earned $1,224,094 from 41 wins and 17 placings from 78 starts. His wins included three WA Pacing Cups and two Fremantle Cups.
Im The Black Flash made his debut in the 1609m Kindergarten Stakes at Wyndham on April 14 when he started from the outside barrier in the field of eight and was restrained to last before he was hampered for room but still managed to run home solidly into fourth place behind the odds-on favourite Don’t Stop Dreaming, with the final 400m in 27sec.
He then started from barrier seven in a field of eight in the 2200m Diamond Creek Farm Classic. He began speedily and settled in the one-out, one-back position before moving to the breeze after 550m and then taking the lead 300m later. He set a solid pace but was no match for the brilliant Don’t Stop Dreaming, finishing second to that colt which surged home along the inside to win easily after final 400m sections of 30.2sec. and 26.5sec.
Among Im The Black Flash’s rivals on Friday night is stablemate Hes Never Been Beta, who made a winning debut when he raced in the breeze before sprinting home over the final 400m in 27.3sec. to beat the pacemaker Hez All The Rage by a half-length, rating 2.1 over 2185m at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon.
Hes Never Been Beta, to be driven by Stuart McDonald, faces a more difficult task on Friday night when he will start out wide at barrier eight. Hez All The Rage, to be driven by Chris Lewis for Busselton trainer Barry Howlett, is much more favourably drawn at the prized No. 1 barrier.
The Glenn Elliott-trained colt Soho Confidential, will be driven by Shannon Suvaljko from barrier five, and he will have admirers after his dashing victory in a 2150m seven-horse trial at Byford on Sunday morning when he dashed to the front after 400m and set a solid pace before sprinting over the final 400m sections in 28.2sec. and 28.1sec. to beat Rockokoko by 64 metres at a 1.59.9 rate.