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Ken Casellas | Photo: Gloucester Park Harness Racing

Feature events worth more than $1 million dollars in the coming summer months are on the agenda for rising star Jumpingjackmac, who gave another example of his class when he set the pace and won the 2130m Allwood Stud Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

Not only is he revealing the potential to develop into a leading candidate for the $300,000 Fremantle Cup and the $450,000 WA Pacing Cup next January, but he is sure to be hard to beat in the $50,000 Four-Year-Old Championship in November and the $125,000 Four-Year-Old Classic and the $200,000 Golden Nugget in December.

Jumpingjackmac, prepared by Gary Hall Snr, was driven expertly by Gary Hall Jnr, who got the $3.50 second favourite and the least experienced runner in the race away to a flying start from the No. 1 barrier.

After a moderate lead time of 37sec. and opening quarters of 30.1sec. and 29.8sec. Jumpingjackmac sped over the third 400m section of the final mile in 27.3sec. before he ran the final quarter in 28.2sec. as he held on to win by a head from his fast-finishing stablemate Chicago Bull ($10), with the $1.75 favourite Magnificent Storm a half-length farther back in third place. The winner rated 1.55.2.

Hall used similar tactics and caused an upset when he drove Balcatherine to victory over the odds-on favourite Magnificent Storm in the 2130m group 2 City of Perth Cup last December when Balcatherine led and dashed over the third quarter of the final mile in 27.4sec. on her way to winning at a 1.55.3 rate over Motu Premier and Magnificent Storm.

“When Balcatherine beat Magnificent Storm in that race I made him run down the back, and he didn’t seem to like it. When you make Magnificent Storm stretch his neck, he is vulnerable. It is all about getting him out of his comfort zone. But if he gets on top of you, he is just too good and too fast.

“Passing the 400m tonight I knew that if I maintained speed I was going to win. In the final moments I saw Chicago Bull flashing home, out wide.”

Chicago Bull, who raced in last position in the one-wide line in the field of six, finished with a powerful burst, and reinsman Callan Suvaljko declared that the nine-year-old champion was far from a spent force.

“He felt good, and things worked out nice for him,” said Suvaljko. “He just needed a few runs to perform like that. He is improving with every run, and he will keep improving.”

Hall said that Jumpingjackmac had improved since he was a hot favourite and set the pace before fading to fifth behind Magnificent Storm two starts before Friday night’s race.

“He overraced (and got his tongue over the bit), but tonight he was beautiful and relaxed,” he said. “It is hard in small fields when you have good horses sitting on you. If Magnificent Storm had opened me up more, Chicago Bull probably would have won.”

The New Zealand-bred Jumpingjackmac now has earned $237,054 from 14 wins and six seconds.