Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Young New Zealand reinsman Tom Nally made a perfect start at his first appearance at Gloucester Park when he drove a patient race to land $13.70 chance Machlani to an exciting victory over the $1.95 favourite Blaze Coops in the $21,000 The Nightly Pace on Friday evening.
And harness racing followers missed an ideal opportunity to gain a bargain, with nobody tempted to buy the veteran nine-year-old pacer who was advertised for sale earlier in the week for $7000.
Machlani, trained by Michael Young, earned $12,058 for his win, and Young said the pacer was still for sale. He purchased Machlani for $5000 just over three months ago on behalf of owners Matt Joss, Glen Hepburn, Oliver Cownie and Matt Leppard — and the old gelding’s eleven runs for them have resulted in four wins and $28,866 in prizemoney.
“We bought him because we realised that the new national handicapping system would suit him, and he would drop a long way in class,” explained Young. “He was advertised for $7000 before tonight’s race, and we have had no takers.”
Machlani, who possesses excellent gate speed and is a smart frontrunner, was favourably drawn at barrier two on Friday night. But the 22-year-old Nally adhered to a plan to drive the horse with a sit.
“We talked about tactics before the race, and we knew that Alwaysbfrank would come out humming (from barrier three),” said Nally. “So, we decided that there would be no point in trying to lead and knowing that Blaze Coops likes to lead and roll along, we anticipated that the field would be stretching out, and that we should be able to get off the pegs when we needed to.
“So, I wasn’t worried about racing three back on the pegs, and I got off at the right time. Machlani was on and off the bit, but when I asked him to go, he knew what he was doing and he put his head down and really dug in.”
Alwaysbfrank ($19) was smartest into stride before Kyle Harper sent Blaze Coops to the front after 100m. Blaze Coops raced keenly in the lead, and she appeared certain to win when she led by almost four lengths approaching the home turn. But she was swamped in the closing stages by Machlani, who won by a half-length.
Machlani has raced 148 times for 18 wins, 35 placings and $181,084 in stakes. He is by Mach Three and is the fourth foal out of the Million To One mare Leilani Lombo, who was retired with earnings of $224,595 from ten wins and six placings from 23 starts. The highlight of her career was her win in the group 1 APG Pacing Gold feature for two-year-old fillies at Albion Park in April 2010.
“I arrived in Perth from New Zealand five days before Christmas, and then me and my partner went around for a couple of weeks enjoying ourselves before I started working for the Bond stable,” said Nally.
“In races over here, you have to be more tactical, and they drive a light tighter here on the smaller tracks than they do in New Zealand on the bigger tracks.”