Drawing the No. 1 barrier for the first time in 16 starts in Western Australia played the major part in the New Zealand-bred six-year-old’s victory in the 2130m The Sports Daily On TABradio Pace at Gloucester Park on Saturday night.
Mr Kiwi’s all-the-way win ended a nine-month drought and a losing sequence of 13.
Trained by Gary Hall Snr and driven by his son Gary, Mr Kiwi, favourite at $1.40, was untroubled to set the pace and win by a half-length from $31 outsider Mister Ardee, rating a modest 1.59.5.
Mr Kiwi dawdled through the lead time of 41.1sec. and opening quarters of 31.4sec. and 29.8sec. before dashing over the final 800m in 55.9sec. This was his second win from 16 WA starts and improved his record to 44 starts for eight wins, 12 placings and stakes of $93,274.
He is a half-brother to former smart pacer Mr Mojito, who had 39 starts for 13 wins, seven placings and $205,099. Mr Mojito was driven by Mark Purdon when he scored a notable victory over Nathans Courage in the group 2 Four-Year-Old Championship at Gloucester Park in December 2016 before finishing fifth behind Soho Tribeca in the Golden Nugget.
By Ken Casellas