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Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators

New Zealand-bred six-year-old Vespa has been a wonderful moneyspinner for his team of owners, earning $145,476 from his nine wins and 18 placings in Western Australia, and trainer Michael Young has high hopes the Mach Three gelding will bow out as a winner at his final appearance in Australia.

Vespa has been sold to American interests and, barring unforeseen circumstances, he will be racing for the final time before leaving for the United States when he starts from barrier No. 3 in the 2130m Matty Joss Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with Gary Hall Jnr in the sulky.

“I’d love to see him go out as a winner,” said Young. “I’ve been told that the plane will leave Perth at the end of next week or in the first week of August.

“I am pretty confident he will cross The Kraken (barrier one), and if he finds the front, he will be near on unbeatable. He has got plenty of gate speed when you light him up.”

Vespa is one of six runners from Young’s Mundijong stable who will be racing at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with the best winning chances of the other five being Moonlite Drive and Eighteen Carat.

Moonlite Drive should prove to be the best bet of the night. He will start from the No. 1 barrier in the 2536m Jim’s Test And Tag Pace, and Hall will be looking for an all-the-way victory.

Moonlite Drive worked hard in the breeze when a fighting second to the pacemaker Dominus Factum over 2130m last Friday night. That followed an all-the-way 2536m Gloucester Park win from Stamford and Markham Eyre and a tough effort when he raced in the breeze and dead-heated for first with Vulcan Star over 2242m at Narrogin.

Young also is confident that his one runner at Narrogin on Friday night — Cooper, to be driven by Joseph Suvaljko, will be successful. The Mach Three four-year-old will start from 50m (virtually 40m, with the sole front-line runner starting off 10m).

“I’ll be surprised if Cooper doesn’t win,” said Young. “I’ve got a degree of confidence this week. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”