Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Champion trainer Gary Hall senior’s prospects of winning the WA Derby for a record sixth time received a substantial boost when his son Gary Hall Jnr drove Mister Smartee to an effortless victory in the Group 3 Cowden Insurance Western Gateway Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“He did it in second gear and to do it that easily was pretty good,” said Hall Jnr.
However, Hall Jnr will be driving the Justin Prentice-trained Never Ending in the $200,000 WA Derby on Friday week, proving the gelding, a winner at twelve of his 13 starts, recovers fully from a virus which prevented him from contesting Friday night’s major lead-up event for the Derby.
Last year Prentice and Hall Jnr combined to win the Western Gateway and the WA Derby with Tricky Miki. That gave Hall Jnr his sixth WA Derby win in the space of ten years.
He has mixed emotions going into this year’s Derby, saying: “I wish Mister Smartee was a two-year-old and Never Ending a three-year-old, or vice-versa.
“Mister Smartee mightn’t be there yet as a complete racehorse. But he has the ability to win the Derby.”
Mister Smartee is quite inexperienced but boasts a wonderful record of six starts for five wins and one second (when beaten a head by Da Vinci as a two-year-old at Addington 12 months ago). He has been driven by Hall for brilliant wins at his four starts in Western Australia.
He was the $1.20 favourite from the No. 1 barrier on Friday night and was beaten out by Mikis Beach, Rocket City and Rolling Fire but was able to muster sufficient speed to defy these challenges and hold up and set the pace.
Rolling Fire raced without cover, and Mikis Beach enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and one-back. Mister Smartee dashed over the final 400m sections in 28.9sec. and 28.4sec. and won by two and a half lengths from Lusaka, who sustained a powerful three-wide burst from the rear at the bell. Mikis Beach was a head away in third place, with Rolling Fire fighting on to be an excellent fourth.
Mister Smartee, a gelding by American stallion Always B Miki, rated 1.56.9 over the 2536m, which is the distance of the Derby.
“Mister Smartee is not used to be driven out like he was tonight (to defy the early challengers), but he handled it all quite well.”