Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Inexperienced four-year-old Youre So Fine is firmly on track to shine in rich feature events at the coming summer carnival.
That’s the obvious conclusion after the brilliant New Zealand-bred pacer romped to an effortless victory in the $30,000 Retravision Marathon Handicap at Gloucester Park on Friday night, his fifth win from five starts since resuming after a 19-month absence while recovering from tendon damage.
“He is showing the signs that he is going to measure up to all the big races,” said Gary Hall Jnr after driving him to a most impressive win over Steel The Show in the 3309m Marathon when contesting his first race over a distance longer than 2200m.
Youre So Fine, trained by Gary Hall Snr, was the $2 favourite who began safely from the front line and coasted to the front after 600m and set a solid pace before sprinting over the final quarters in 27.6sec. and 28.7sec.
Steel The Show, the $5.50 second favourite, began from the 30m mark and was ninth in the middle stages before sustaining a spirited three-wide burst to challenge Youre So Fine in the final circuit.
“Youre So Fine went quick down the back and did it quite easily,” said Hall Jnr. “Every time Steel the Show came at him, he found a bit more. He is a good frontrunner but has shown that he is more than capable of racing with a sit.
“He will be set for big races like the WA Pacing Cup (November 10), the Golden Nugget (December 15) and the Fremantle Cup in April.”
Youre So Fine, purchased by trainer Brett Gray for $14,000 at the 2020 yearling sale in Christchurch, won once from three starts in New Zealand as a two-year-old before being bought by a syndicate of owners linked to the Hall stable for a considerably higher price.
He demanded a high price after finishing powerfully from fifth at the 500m to score an easy win over Franco Indie in the Group 2 Diamond Creek Classic at Invercargill in May 2021 when he rated 1.56.7 to set a New Zealand record for a two-year-old colt or gelding.
Youre So Fine made an excellent Australian debut when he finished third behind Tricky Miki in the Golden Slipper at Gloucester Park in July 2021. He had three more runs at Gloucester Park as a two-year-old for two wins and a nose second to Floewriter before suffering tendon damage which kept him out of action for 19 months.
He is by Always B Miki and is the seventh foal out of the unraced Falcon Seelster mare Syriana, whose first foal Meticulous raced 39 times for ten wins, seven placings and $109,067.