Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Star pacer Shockwave delighted his trainer Ryan Bell when he made a wonderful return to racing by cruising to an effortless victory in the $30,000 West Australian Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
He showed no signs of his damaged tendon, an injury which kept him out of action for 660 days when Aiden De Campo drove him to a decisive win over Hampton Banner and Arma Einstein, rating 1.56.1 over the 2130m after dashing over the final two quarters in 28.1sec. and 27.1sec.
“You don’t get more awesome than that after such a long time away from racing,” said Bell. “I’m super proud of him. It has been a long haul for us; we’ve all done a fair bit.
“Paul O’Callaghan and the people at Perth Equine have been wonderful. They have guided me and gave me a routine to follow. At the moment there are no set plans for him just yet. He will keep racing and see how he goes.”
Shockwave, a seven-year-old Mach Three stallion, was the $1.80 favourite from the outside barrier in the field of five and De Campo urged him forward when the mobile barrier got the field under way in a bid to get to the front.
But Jocelyn Young was not prepared to surrender the lead with the polemarker Hampton Banner, the $4.60 second favourite. De Campo quickly eased Shockwave back and was happy to rate the horse in the breeze, two lengths back behind the pacemaker.
Shockwave applied pressure to Hampton Banner in the back straight in the final circuit before surging to the front 250m from home. He won by just over a length from Hampton Banner.
“He went super and went to the line with the plugs still in,” said De Campo. “Initially, I was planning to go back and sit him up. But that didn’t happen, and then he relaxed, which was good.”
Shockwave has now raced 48 times for 20 wins, 17 placings and stakes of $532,202, and if he remains injury free will be a leading contender for the rich Fremantle and WA Pacing Cups in the summer.