Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Promising four-year-old Stormy Vista’s splendid third in the group 1 Golden Nugget last Friday night has prompted trainer Michael Young to declare the Sweet Lou four-year-old his stable’s star bet at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“It looks a good night on paper (for the stable),” said Young. “I expect Penny Black to be winning, but she will be short (in the market), while I’m pretty keen on Stormy Vista.”
Stormy Vista will be driven by Liam Elliott from barrier four in the Happy Birthday Ken Casellas Pace over 2130m in which he will clash with smart performers Ultimate Miki (barrier nine), last-start winners Lion Queen and Hillview Bondi, A Little Silence and Munroes Mate.
“I reckon Stormy Vista will win even though he probably will have to sit outside Munroes Mate, the likely leader,” said Young. “The breeze doesn’t worry him, and his run last week was awesome when he took ground off Runkle Crunch, who would be a $1.10 chance if he was in this field.
“I will ask Liam to be aggressive, and if Stormy Vista can’t take the lead, he will hold the breeze at all costs.”
Trainer Gary Hall Snr’s runners A Little Silence (barrier six) and Ultimate Miki (nine) are racing in fine form, with Gary Hall Jnr choosing to handle Ultimate Miki, who began out wide at barrier seven in a 2536m event last Friday night when the four-year-old raced three wide for the first 500m before taking the lead and going on to win comfortably from Control The Room and Lou Lamour, rating 1.56.4 after covering the final 800m in 56.5sec.
“This is a tough race, but Ultimate Miki and A Little Silence are racing well and have sound claims, though the wide draws will test both of them,” said Hall Jnr.
Emily Suvaljko will drive Penny Black from the coveted No. 1 barrier in the Westral Mares Classic Prelude over 2130m and she has bright prospects of setting the pace and winning after she began from barrier seven and worked hard in the breeze before fading to tenth behind Aardiebytheseaside in the group 2 Norms Daughter Free-For-All over 2130m last Friday night.
“Penny Black’s times were fine last week last week when she was beaten by only seven metres,” said Young. “There is a strong crop of mares this year, with none of them racing this week. This will be a nice lead-up for Penny Black in the Mares Classic when she will like the 2536m trip.”
One of Penny Black’s main rivals on Friday night is sure to be Eastbro Chrissy, who is trained and driven by Gary Hall Jnr and should be prominent from the No. 3 barrier.
“Eastbro Chrissy went across the line bolting last week (when ninth behind Aardiebytheseaside),” said Hall. “She has been racing super from bad draws, and her numerical form doesn’t stack up with the way she is going.”
WA-bred five-year-old Curadh, trained and driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, gets an ideal chance to break through for an overdue win when he starts from the No. 1 barrier in the 1730m After The Cricket Pace.
Curadh has impressed at several recent appearances with his powerful finishing bursts, and on Friday night he gets a perfect opportunity to set the pace and win. His only win from 17 starts this season was ten starts ago when he led from barrier two and beat Yawoma over 2190m at Northam on July 4.