Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Ace reinsman Shannon Suvaljko has driven High Price at his past two starts and has been impressed with his efforts in finishing fourth to Magnificent Storm in the Governor’s Cup and third behind A Little Silence.
But he has opted to handle Bettors Pride, who will start from the No. 3 barrier in the $31,000 Bridge Bar Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with Chris Lewis being engaged to drive High Price, who is favourably drawn at barrier two.
Suvaljko said that Bettors Pride, trained by Kevin Keys, had excellent prospects of ending a losing sequence of ten. “He set the pace and finished a close second to Captain Ravishing over 2936m in the Fremantle Cup Consolation last Friday night when the winner rated 1.57 over the long distance.
“Bettors Pride was still going strong on the line,” said Suvaljko. “It was a good hit-out over 2936m, and he should be hard to beat over the shorter distance this week.”
Suvaljko is keen to lead, but he is mindful that the horses drawn to his inside, Im Lightning Banner (barrier one) and High Price (two) also possess good gate speed.
Im Lightning Banner, trained and driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, has set the pace and won at four of his eight victories, while the Garry Sayers-trained High Price has recorded two all-the-way wins and four placings after setting the pace.
Adding considerable interest to Friday night’s race will be the first appearance in Free-For-All ranks of the brilliant four-year-old Mad Monday, who is handily drawn at barrier two on the back line for trainers Greg and Skye Bond and driver Deni Roberts.
Mad Monday has revealed dazzling gate speed before leading and winning at his past four starts, all at Gloucester Park and over 2130m (twice), 1730m and 2536m.
“I was hoping for a front-line draw,” said Roberts. “Unfortunately, he didn’t get one, but at his first run in this company it is not a bad thing. He has come back after a spell very well and we are looking forward to seeing how he measures up.”
Captain Ravishing led early from barrier one in last week’s 2936m event before Kylah Madden opted to take the sit on Bettors Pride. Madden eased Captain Ravishing into the clear approaching the home turn and the seven-year-old sprinted powerfully to get to the front 50m from the post and beat Bettors Pride by a metre after a final 800m of 56.6sec.
Captain Ravishing faces a tougher assignment this week, starting from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line, while the Michael Young-trained Hugotastic is sure to appreciate a drop in class after trailing the pacemaker Magnificent Storm and wilting to finish last behind Max Delight in the 2536m Nullarbor slot race last Friday week. Hugotastic, a winner at seven of his 25 starts, will be driven by Emily Suvaljko.