Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Stuart McDonald made the most of the opportunity to drive speedy four-year-old Finvarra in the 1730m Barbagallo Lamborghini Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night when champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr opted to drive the Michael Young-trained The Mustang.
Finvarra was second favourite at $3.90 from barrier six, while The Mustang, from the outside barrier in the field of seven, was the $1.95 favourite after leading for Hall and winning at his first three starts in Western Australia on consecutive Friday nights last month.
The Mustang revealed his typical sparkling gate speed to burst straight to the front, while Finvarra settled down in last position. When the early pace was not as fast as generally expected, McDonald sent Finvarra forward with a strong three-wide burst 300m after the start to move into the breeze.
Finvarra took a narrow lead 225m from home and he held on grimly and gained the verdict in a thrilling four-way photo finish, beating the fast-finishing $81 outsider Gotta Go Gabbana by a half-head, with a $5 chance Miracle Moose running home powerfully, out five wide, to be a head away in third place. The Mustang was another head farther back in fourth spot.
“Finvarra pulled a bit hard, but still won,” said trainer Gary Hall Snr. “Stewie took off early because he didn’t want the favourite to get away with murder in front.”
Finvarra will now be set for the feature events, the $50,000 Four-Year-Old Championship next Friday night, followed by the $125,000 Four-Year-Old Classic and the $200,000 Golden Nugget.
The son of American Ideal has earned $189,648 from 11 wins and eight placings from 20 starts.