Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Talented New Zealand-bred five-year-old Mr Fantastic will reappear after an absence of nine months when he begins from barrier five in the 2536m Westral Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night — and he should prove hard to beat following an impressive recent trial win at Pinjarra.
He was restrained at the start and raced four back on the pegs before Gary Hall Jnr eased him out 800m from home to move to the breeze and then into the lead 500m later on his way to a comfortable one-and-a-half lengths win over Misstiano, rating a modest 2.0.2 over 2185m on a rain-affected track, with final quarters of 29.4sec. and 27.9sec.
“Mr Fantastic didn’t run a great time overall, but he felt good,” said Hall. “He gives you a really good feel when he’s right, and he felt really nice.”
Mr Fantastic, trained by Justin Prentice, has a winning record of 42 per cent (11 wins from 26 starts) and his most recent victory was when he led from barrier six and won easily from Illawong Mustang over 2536m in August last year.
The Michael Young-trained Moonlite Drive makes strong appeal as the pacemaker for Maddison Brown from the prized No. 1 barrier. He began out wide at barrier eight in a 2130m event last Friday night when he raced at the rear and was blocked for a clear run in the final lap before finishing tenth behind Classic Choice.
Moonlite Drive is a strong stayer who has won four times over 2536m at Gloucester Park. Simply Shaz (barrier two) also is a stout-hearted stayer, who finished strongly to win from Watching Our Coin over 2692m at Pinjarra three starts ago — and six starts before that she set the pace and won the group 2 Empress Stakes over 2536m, beating champion four-year-old mare Wonderful To Fly in a photo finish.
Champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond and outstanding young driver Deni Roberts look set for a profitable night, with Mighty Conqueror (race four) and Himself (race eight) strongly fancied to set the pace from the No. 1 barrier in their respective events and prove too smart for the opposition.
And lightly-raced four-year-old Peter Petrify has bright prospects for the Bond stable and Roberts when he starts from the front line in the Direct Trades Supply Handicap, a 2503m standing-start event.
Peter Petrify resumed after a spell with a convincing victory in a 2631m stand at Pinjarra last Monday week. He is sure to meet with plenty of opposition from Verano, Carabao, Ardens Horizon, Master Yossi and Awaitinginstructions.