Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
When Stuart McDonald emigrated from Christchurch to Perth in 2011 to further his career in harness racing, he was quizzed regarding which team he followed in the AFL competition.
“I decided to go for the team which wears black and white,” he said after driving a double with Faster Than Dad and Cloud Nine at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“The only time I had seen an AFL team make the (television) news in New Zealand was in 2010 when Collingwood drew with St Kilda in the grand final before they won easily in the re-match.”
When McDonald removed his racing colours after scoring an impressive win with Cloud Nine in the 1730m 7Plus Pace it revealed a black and white Collingwood jumper.
“The previous time I had worn the footy jumper to drive at the trots was in 2018 when Collingwood lost to the Eagles in the 2018 grand final,” he said.
McDonald had better luck this year when Collingwood narrowly defeated the Brisbane Lions in a pulsating grand final on Saturday.
Cloud Nine, the $3.60 second fancy from the No. 1 barrier in race nine on Friday night, sat behind the tearaway pacemaker and $71 outsider Diamondsonthebeach before McDonald eased the Bettors Delight gelding off the pegs with 900m to travel.
High Price, the $1.45. favourite, had a tough run in the breeze before Gary Hall Jnr sent him to the front 550m from home. Cloud Nine then sustained a strong three-wide burst to hit the front at the 300m before winning by a length from $7 chance Bellezza Nera, who finished solidly after racing three back on the pegs. High Price wilted to finish seventh.
“Things worked out better than I anticipated,” said the 28-year-old McDonald. “I didn’t think I could lead and was expecting to sit behind High Price. But that didn’t work out, with Diamondsonthebeach racing to the front.
“So, I was happy to take the sit behind Diamondsonthebeach, and with the speed on it was nice and easy to get off the pegs and into a good position (about 900m from home) and from there I expected to be hard to beat.”
This was Cloud Nine’s first appearance for four weeks. “I gave him a week off after he had finished at the rear behind Kimble a month ago,” said McDonald. “He had had a few runs in a row when I wasn’t a hundred percent happy with him. So, I gave him a freshen-up, and it has worked out well. His work on Tuesday was super and I was pretty confident.”
Cloud Nine, a New Zealand-bred six-year-old, has had 61 starts for nine wins, 16 seconds and one third placing for earnings of $113,851. His 14 WA starts have resulted in two wins and four seconds.
Cloud Nine’s half-brother Hit the Sky has earned $113,034 from 12 wins and 30 placings from 84 starts. He had 19 starts in WA in 2021 for Amber Sparks and Also Cortopassi for four wins and eight placings.