Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Speedy five-year-old Steno outclassed her rivals in the Christmas Belles 12 months ago, and her trainer-driver Jocelyn Young will be looking for the talented mare to win this Group 3 event over 2130m once again at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Steno was a $5.10 chance last year when she flew out from the No. 4 barrier, set the pace and sprinted over the final 400m sections in 28.2sec. and 27.8sec. to beat $101 chance Three Rumours by three lengths at a 1.55.5 rate.
She fared badly in the random draw and will certainly be tested from out wide at barrier No. 8, leaving Young with plenty to think about. She will have options, relying on Steno’s sparkling gate speed in a bid for the lead or restraining at the start and waiting for an ideal time to dash forward.
Ten of Steno’s eleven wins in WA have come after she has set the pace. She is also capable of unwinding a spirited finishing burst.
Steno, who will be making her first appearance for four weeks, since she began from the No. 6 barrier and raced in the breeze outside the $1.40 favourite Aardiebytheseaside before gaining an ideal passage, one-out and one-back, in the first lap and then finishing gamely to be a close-up third behind Aardiebytheseaside and Wonderful To Fly when the final quarters were run in 27.6sec. and 28.4sec.
Several runners on the front line possess excellent gate speed, and they include the polemarker Stormyskyes, Acharne Girl (barrier two), Soho Seraphine (barrier three) and Our Sandy Shore (six).
Stormyskyes, trained and driven by Shane Steele, has a losing sequence of 24, but she should relish her inside barrier, with Steele likely to make a bid for the early lead.
Acharne Girl, trained by Gary Hall Snr, is a wonderfully consistent mare who impressed with her first-up effort last Friday week when she enjoyed the one-out, one-back trail before finishing solidly into third place behind the pacemaker Little Darling and Penny Black.
Acharne Girl will be driven by Deni Roberts, with Gary Hall Jnr opting to handle the Michael Young-trained Penny Black from the No. 2 barrier on the back line, and Stuart McDonald sticking with the Corey Peterson-trained Nullarbor Navajo, who will begin from barrier seven.
Nullarbor Navajo was far from disgraced last Friday night when she worked hard in the breeze and finished a close second to Montana Glory. At her previous start, a fortnight earlier, Nullarbor Navajo began from barrier nine and finished powerfully to be a head second to Whataretheodds, who rated 1.54.9 over 2130m.
Four-year-old Penny Black should gain a good passage from her backline draw, and she looks hard to beat. She had a tough run in the breeze when a half-head second to Little Darling two weeks ago. Little Darling also looks well placed from the inside of the back line.