Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond hold a strong hand with four of the eight runners in the 2130m Pick Your Race Name Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night — and star driver Deni Roberts has given punters a valuable lead by choosing to handle Cinch.
Cinch, one of the five fillies in the race, will begin from the No. 4 barrier, with her stablemates being Manuka Bay (Stuart McDonald; barrier three), In Rare Air (Kyle Symington; barrier seven) and The Final Offer (Tom Nally; barrier eight).
Cinch has won at three of her 17 starts and caught the eye three Tuesdays ago when she settled down in ninth position and was seventh on the home turn before flying home with a dazzling late sprint to finish third behind Manuka Bay and Ravenous.
Eight days before that Cinch began from the No. 1 barrier when she set a brisk pace to win easily from Drop The Ace and The Sea Siren, rating 1.54.1 over 1684m at Pinjarra, with final 400m sections of 28.2sec. and 27.6sec.
Cinch is by champion stallion Bettors Delight, who is also the sire of In Rare Air and The Final Offer.
In Rare Air is racing enthusiastically and he notched his fourth victory at his 13TH start when he was eighth at the bell in a 2130m event at Gloucester Park last Friday week before sustaining a powerful burst which enabled him to get up in the final stride to beat American Machine by a nose, rating 1.56.5, with final quarters of 28.9sec. and 28.3sec.
The inexperienced Manuka Bay has been handled by Roberts at her only two starts (both over 2130m at Gloucester Park) for a debut second to Methuselah followed by an easy win over Ravenous after racing without cover for the first 500m and then setting the pace on April 28.
Roberts faces a busy evening on Friday night with seven drives, and she has no hesitation in declaring her best winning chance is with the Bond-trained Rumble Strip, who will begin from the outside (barrier three) on the back line in the 2130m Trotsynd Shares Available Now Pace.
Rumble Strip, a New Zealand-bred four-year-old with a record of six wins and six second placings from 18 starts, has resumed after a spell in fine form. He ran on solidly from sixth at the bell to finish fourth behind Ultimate Miki three Tuesdays ago and a week later he raced in the breeze for 1100m before taking the lead on the home turn and winning by two lengths from Sound Wave at a 1.57.3 rate over 2130m.
Roberts has several other strong winning prospects on Friday night, and she is also looking forward to driving star pacer Golden Lode in the $30,000 Manea Classic for four and five-year-olds over 2100m at Bunbury’s Donaldson Park on Saturday night.
Golden Lode gave further proof of his class at Gloucester Park last Friday night when he was restrained to last and then sustained a powerful three-wide burst to win the group 3 Allwood Stud Four and Five-Year-Old Championship from Runkle Crunch.