Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Rising star Kyle Symington is preparing to throw down the gauntlet to the State’s two best mares Eighteen Carat and The Amber Hare in the $150,000 Westral Mares Classic at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Symington will drive five-year-old Miss Limelight from the prized No. 1 barrier in the 2536m feature event, and he declared that she is a winning chance.
“Our plan will be to lead,” he said. “We will be leading at all costs. Having the barrier advantage really helps Miss Limelight, particularly with Eighteen Carat drawing the outside barrier at No. 9, and The Amber Hare starting from the outside of the back line.
“Miss Limelight has led only once for the Bell stable — and she went super, first-up five starts ago, when she won from Bettor Get It On.”
Miss Limelight dashed over the opening 400m section of the final mile in 29.3sec., followed by three 28.6sec. quarters to score by a length, rating 1.55.5 over the 2130m journey.
Unfavourable barriers at her next three starts saw her race at the rear and finish well back before she impressed in the Norms Daughter Classic last Friday week in finishing fourth behind Eighteen Carat. She was seventh in the one-wide line at the bell before running home strongly.
Symington also said that Miss Limelight would be suited over the 2536m. “She has won over 2536m, so I don’t see the distance being a problem,” he said.
The 20-year-old Symington notched his 100TH winner when he guided the Bell-trained Swagger Man to victory at Northam last Saturday night, and a win in the Mares Classic would not only give him his first Group 1 success but it would boost the prizemoney of horses he has driven in his 941 race drives to over the $1 million mark.
Trainer Michael Young has Eighteen Carat at her peak, and reinsman Gary Hall Jnr said that the mare was still a strong winning chance, despite starting from the outside of the front line. The five-year-old Eighteen Carat has won at her past three starts, including the Group 3 Schrader Pace and the Group 1 Norms Daughter Classic last Friday week.
“I still think she can win, whereas if The Amber Hare had drawn favourably and Fifty Five Reborn had drawn barrier one (instead of barrier seven) we could be in a bit of trouble,” said Hall. “The 2536m is not going to worry Eighteen Carat; he is quite tough and is fast as well.
“She will have to be put in the race at some stage, and I’ll have to work out when that is. The longer trip will help. It will give us time to work out what we have to do.”
Eighteen Carat has performed superbly for Young, with her nine starts in WA (all over 2130m) producing seven wins, a third and a fourth placing. She had 38 starts in New Zealand for five wins and six placings. She raced only twice beyond 2200m — in 2700m mobile events at Cambridge for a fast-finishing win on December 3, 2020, and a fighting close-up third after racing in the breeze on February 18, 2021.
The Amber Hare, trained and driven by Jocelyn Young, will be having her first start on Friday night in a race beyond 2242m, but Young insisted that was not a problem.
The Amber Hare, a winner at ten of her 19 starts, is in brilliant form. She raced four wide early before forging to the front after 500m and going on to set a solid pace, with final quarters of 27.8sec. and 27.9sec. on her way to winning at a 1.57.4 rate by four and a half lengths from Three Rumours over 2130m last Friday night.
“I have no doubt The Amber Hare can run out the 2500m,” said Young. “Barrier 12 is not too bad; it could be worse. I guess good horses can handle whatever, but this grade is very competitive, and it won’t be a walk in the park.
“We will just have to assess what happens early. But I don’t really have a lot of options. However, she’s got the form on the board.”
The Colin Brown-trained Fifty Five Reborn, the winner of 15 races, is in splendid form and has set the pace from barriers one and two at her past two outings before finishing second both times to the brilliant Eighteen Carat. However, she races a tougher test on Friday night for driver Maddison Brown from the wide draw at barrier seven.