Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
He’s no oil painting, he’s just a mid-sized plain bay gelding, but Mister Smartee continues to soar to great heights and is stamping himself as one of best pacers in Australia.
He was cool, calm and composed as he coasted to a comprehensive victory in the $200,000 Retravision Golden Nugget at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Handled with considerable confidence by champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr, Mister Smartee, the $1.50 favourite, emerged triumphant in what was billed as a compelling clash between the Gary Hall senior-trained four-year-old and star trainer-reinsman Justin Prentice’s brilliant Never Ending, the $2.80 second fancy.
Never Ending began from the prized No. 1 barrier, with Mister Smartee on his immediate outside, and the canny Hall Jnr was fully cognisant that Prentice would use Never Ending’s excellent gate speed in a bid to win the start and set the pace in the 2536m classic.
So, the circumspect Hall was committed to his plan of not urging Mister Smartee at the start, but to giving the gelding a comfortable trip in the breeze.
These tactics paid handsome dividends, with Never Ending expending extra energy by racing fiercely in the lead while Mister Smartee was relaxing in the breeze.
The early pace was quite moderate with opening quarters of 31.2sec. and 30.7sec. before the final 400m sections whizzed by in 27.9sec. and 27.8sec.
Hall bided his time before sending Mister Smartee to the front 450m from home on his way to winning by just over a length from $31 chance Sorridere, who enjoyed a perfect passage in the one-out, one-back position before being badly hampered for room in the home straight until the final stages when he finished fast.
Lusaka ($41) finished strongly from seventh at the bell to be a neck away in third place, with Rolling Fire ($91) coming from sixth at the bell to finish fourth, a head in front of his stablemate, the wilting Never Ending.
For the 42-year-old Hall Jnr, this was his 67TH success in a Group 1 feature event, while his 75-year-old father has prepared 48 Group 1 winners in an outstanding career.
Mister Smartee will soon be given a well-deserved spell before resuming training and being prepared for the $1.25 million Nullarbor slot race over 2536m at Gloucester Park on April 25, the $300,000 2936m Fremantle Cup the following week and the Interdominion championship series at Brisbane’s Albion Park in July.
Mister Smartee, who is by American sire Always B Miki and is the second foal out of Stonebridge Regal mare Luna Danza, was bought for $32,500 by New Zealander Craig Edmonds at the 2021 national New Zealand yearling sale at Christchurch.
He had two starts as a two-year-old, rating 1.57 over 1980m at Addington in October 2022 when a head second to Da Vinci, and a month later he smashed a track record when he rated 1.53.1 when he beat Sinbad by a nose over 1980m at Addington.
Those two starts resulted in prizemoney of $12,860 before he was sold for $400,000 to a syndicate of eight. The gelding now boasts a wonderful record of 18 starts for 15 wins, two seconds and $555,051 in stakes. For the Hall stable he has had 16 starts for 14 wins, one second (in this year’s WA Pacing Cup, and a ninth placing in last year’s WA Derby.
Asked to compare Mister Smartee with other outstanding pacers he has driven, Hall Jnr said: “He has got to be right up there; if not now but definitely in the future.
“So far, he is not as good as Quinny (Im Themightyquinn), but up there with the others (including The Falcon Strike, Chicago Bull, Beaudiene Boaz, My Hard Copy and King of Swing). It is hard to line them up because pacers run much faster now.
“Mister Smartee has a lot of bottom and can also be brilliant as well. He is very fast, and at home he can sit and ping home very fast. He has the potential to travel for major events around Australia.”
Hall said that Mister Smartee’s ability to settle in the early stages and during Friday night’s race was a major factor in his win. “He used to be really revvy and I was worried about him overracing, and being able to settle him won him the race.
“Never Ending was pulling in front while Mister Smartee was happy to sit in the breeze and wait for me to tell him when to go. I knew we were going slowly but it didn’t worry me. I was rapt in Mister Smartee tonight when the final two quarters were quick, and he felt as though he could’ve run another quarter (after the finish) at the same speed.”
Hall Jnr also paid tribute to Never Ending, saying: “Being stuck over in Sydney, and the limited preparation he has had certainly wasn’t ideal. I’m sure he will bounce back.”