Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Star pacer Minstrel was pacing so fast soon after the start of the Running Camel Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night that he blundered and broke for a few strides, leaving his arch rival Lavra Joe in front in the $31,000 Free-For-All.
This foreshadowed an extremely exciting event which resulted in Lavra Joe setting the pace and then choking down in the final circuit when Deni Roberts sent Minstrel, the $1.70 favourite, to the lead 600m from home.
“It was only a small field (of five runners), but it certainly was action-packed,” said Roberts after Minstrel had strolled to victory at a smart 1.54.5 rate over the 2130m journey.
Minstrel, a seven-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding trained by Greg and Skye Bond, began smartly from the No. 3 barrier and had to be driven hard to withstand a spirited challenge from Lavra Joe ($2.05).
Minstrel was leading narrowly from Lavra Joe about 220m after the start when he paced roughly.
“Minstrel was going so fast that he couldn’t handle the bend,” said Roberts. “He wasn’t straight enough, and we hit the corner pretty hard. He lugged in a bit and that caused him to hit a knee or something like that.
“He couldn’t handle it, but he got down (pacing again) pretty quickly, and we didn’t lose our spot (behind the frontrunning Lavra Joe).
“We went fast early, and when Lavra Joe came back (and slackened the pace) he got keen. I pulled out at the 600m. Minstrel is a roller, so I wasn’t going to wait until 200m to go and try to outsprint Lavra Joe.
“I was starting to hit Kyle’s helmet, and I thought I had to go at the 600m. I was always going to hook out down the back. When I got to the outside of Lavra Joe I knew there was an issue with him.”
Harper explained that after he had taken the early lead Lavra Joe was pacing comfortably. “But when we moved into the back straight the first time Lavra Joe began to race fiercely before eventually choking down,” said Harper.
Both Minstrel and Lavra Joe were ordered back to trials (before racing again) by the stewards for their misdemeanours.
Minstrel won by four lengths on Friday night, beating the improving Rubins Plight ($41) after that pacer had finished strongly after racing in fourth position in the Indian file affair. Goodfellaz ($41) ran on from last at the bell to be an encouraging third.
Minstrel now has amassed $751,807 from 21 wins and 17 placings from 56 starts. Roberts has enjoyed a wonderful association with the seven-year-old, having driven him nine times for five wins, one second, one third, one fourth and a ninth placing.