Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Former New Zealand pacer Mister Fortunia will be seen in a different role when he contests the Nullarbor April 14 Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night, according to the five-year-old’s reinsman Aldo Cortopassi.
Mister Fortunia, trained by Amber Sparks, will be given the task of winning the start from barrier one and setting the pace in the 2536m event. He has not led in any of his seven West Australian starts which have produced two wins and three placings.
“He is tough, and he loves the 2500m,” said Cortopassi. “He’s got the gate speed and we’ll do everything we can to take advantage of the draw. He has come through his latest run really well.”
Mister Fortunia worked hard in the breeze before proving too strong for his rivals and winning over 2536m on Tuesday of last week. At his other starts over 2536m, Mister Fortunia raced without cover before winning and ran on from sixth at the bell to finish third to Pontevivo.
His main rivals on Friday night appear to be Firerockfireroll and Master Publisher.
Firerockfireroll, trained by Michael Young and to be driven by Gary Hall Jnr, will be tested from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line. He contested a 2503m stand last Friday night when he dashed to the front after a lap and went on to win convincingly from Aussie Scooter.
Stuart McDonald will handle Master Publisher, who is prepared by Gary Hall Snr and will start from barrier four on the front line. He trailed the pacemaker Whatabro and finished solidly when second to that pacer over 2130m last Friday night.
Dylan Egerton-Green is hoping to repeat Whatabro’s performance of last Friday night when the Michael Brennan-trained five-year-old set the pace from the No. 1 barrier and beat Master Publisher by two lengths.
Whatabro will again start from the prized No. 1 barrier in the opening event, the $25,000 Summit Bloodstock Pace. “He’s got gate speed and I’m hoping to hold out Mirragon and run another good race,” said Egerton-Green. “It’s probably good that Mirragon (barrier three) has drawn close to us, rather than wider.”
One of Whatabro’s rivals will be the speedy four-year-old Blitzembye, who will start out wide at barrier eight at his first appearance for 15 weeks. A winner at eleven of his 26 starts, Blitzembye, trained by Mike Reed, finished second to his classy four-year-old stablemate Ragazzo Mach in a 2150m trial at Byford on Sunday morning.
“Both Blitzembye and Ragazzo Mach are a bit underdone,” said Reed. “Blitzembye will go back at the start and look for short cuts. There is a lot of speed on his inside.”
Ragazzo Mach will also be resuming after a spell when he starts form the No. 2 barrier on the back line in the $22,00 Michael Young Pacing Stables Pace. He has raced 23 times for ten wins, seven seconds and one third and is being set for the rich feature events for four-year-olds later this year, as is Blitzembye.
“The Golden Nugget is the aim for both pacers,” said Reed. “If Ragazzo Mach runs third, fourth or fifth, I’ll be happy. From the back line he will sit and wait. They only walked around in the Byford trial before Ragazzo Mach ran a good last half (55.7sec.) and ran the final 400m in 26.6sec.”