Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Jocelyn Young, delighted to land her 400TH winner in the sulky on Tuesday night, is seeking to end a frustrating run of second placings with Wall Street Girl by guiding the five-year-old mare to victory in the opening event, the 2130m Give It Your Best Shot With Ultimate Sniper Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Wall Street Girl, trained by Debra Lewis, will begin from the coveted No. 1 barrier, and Young is anxious to get the mare to improve her gate speed.
Last Friday night Wall Street Girl was the $2.60 favourite from barrier one in a race over 1730m, but she was sluggish at the start and easily beaten for early speed, dropping back to settle down in seventh place before starting a strong move 700m from home which carried her into second place behind the pacemaker Per Ardua Ad Astra.
“Wall Street Girl is not suited by being bustled early,” said Young. “But I’ll give it a go this week. I’ll have to make a better effort. Last week I’ve gone from barrier one to four pegs to four wide and Wall Street Girl ran second again.”
That was Wall Street Girl’s fifth second placing from her past six starts and took her record to 55 starts for eight wins, 13 seconds and eight thirds.
Chris Voak, who is driving with commendable skill and aggression with a treble at Narrogin last Saturday night and another treble at Gloucester Park on Tuesday evening, said that watching Wall Street Girl’s tardy start last week had boosted his confidence of winning with the Jemma Hayman-trained Duty Bound, who will begin from the No. 2 barrier.
“Duty Bound is very quick and I expect him to be able to cross (to the front) pretty easily,” said Voak. “He gets his chance to lead and win.”
Duty Bound, an eight-year-old who has won at eight of his 60 starts, is getting close to another win after finishing strongly for seconds to Rockandrollartist and Frankie J Holden at his past two appearances.
Voak is also bullish about the prospects of the Hayman-trained six-year-old Post Game, who should appreciate starting from the No. 1 barrier in the 2130m Insure With Grange Bloodstock Insurance Pace.
Post Game gave an outstanding performance when second to smart four-year-old Lusaka last Friday night when he raced wide early and then in the breeze outside Ideal Tomado before fighting on with great determination.
“That run was terrific,” said Voak. “He should be leading and probably winning this week.”
Voak also has excellent prospects of winning with the Giles Inwood-trained Rockin Rufus in the Larkhill Vets, Your Equine Specialists Pace.
The six-year-old caught the eye when he finished an unlucky fifth behind Sorridere in a 2130m event on Tuesday night. He began out wide at barrier seven and was tenth at the bell and ninth at the 400m before finishing solidly and being badly hampered for room in the final stages. He went to the line full of running.
Rockin Rufus was driven in that race by Emily Suvaljko, who will drive veteran pacer Baltic Ace from the prized No. 1 barrier on Friday night when the eight-year-old looms as a serious rival to Rockin Rufus.
Suvaljko has driven Rockin Rufus 19 times for five wins and seven placings, while Voak has driven the gelding twice for unplaced efforts.
Suvaljko has had a long association with the Tracy Reay-trained Baltic Ace, having driven the gelding 33 times for five wins, two seconds and five thirds. Baltic Ace has led and won three times — at Narrogin, Bunbury and Northam.
Exciting New Zealand-bred mare Aardiebytheseaside should remain unbeaten in Australia by proving too good for her ten rivals in the group 3 $50,000 WASBA Breeders Stakes over 2130m.
Aardiebytheseaside was most impressive at her Australian debut last Friday week when she trailed the pacemaking Steno before finishing strongly to beat that mare by a length, rating 1.54.6 in the 2536m Empress Stakes.
Aardiebytheseaside, trained by Greg and Skye Bond, will start from the No. 5 barrier and Deni Roberts said: “Her main dangers (Acharne Girl and Nullarbor Navajo) have drawn the back line, and she will probably bully her way to the front.”