Ken Casellas | Photo: Pacepix
Watching Our Coin overcame a tardy start to go on and win the $22,000 Team Bond Handicap over 2503m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The New Zealand-bred gelding’s victory completed a quartet of winners for Gary Hall Jnr and came as an early present for the champion reinsman who will celebrate his 41ST birthday on Wednesday.
Hall, who had won earlier in the nine-event program with High Price, Rolling Fire and Mr Fantastic, was not dismayed when Watching Our Coin galloped at the standing start and lost three lengths. He quickly got the five-year-old back into his gear and was able to stay in front of his main rival, the $2 favourite Steel The Show before running past Ardens Horizon and into the lead 600m after the start.
This left Steel The Show in the breeze, and Watching the Coin made life virtually impossible for his rival by sprinting over the final three 400m sections in 28.5sec., 28sec. and 28.4sec.
Ardens Horizon, who trailed the pacemaker, finished solidly to be second, a length behind Watching Our Coin, while Steel The Show wilted to finish fourth.
Watching Our Coin has excelled since joining trainer Michael Young’s Mardella stables, and his eleven starts in Western Australia have produced seven wins, three seconds and one third placing.
“He is versatile and really tough,” said Young. “He will now go for the Marathon (a 2902m stand on August 11). He is not the most gracious looking animal when he’s on the racetrack. I’m still not sure how good he is.”