Talkerup revealed a sparkling turn of speed in a smart trial over 2185m at Pinjarra on Sunday morning and she looks hard to beat on her return to racing in the Garrards Horse And Hound One Stop Shop Mares Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Talkerup, a New Zealand-bred five-year-old trained at Serpentine by Gary Hall Snr, has been out of action for exactly 12 months and should have derived great benefit from her trial in which she was driven by Stuart McDonald.
McDonald restrained Talkerup back to last in the seven-horse trial after she had been trapped three wide in the early stages. She then accelerated brilliantly after 550m and burst to the front 200m later. She led by three lengths at the 400m before she showed signs of fatigue as she drifted out in the home straight. But she still had plenty in hand to win by 5m from Lightning Jolt on the rain-affected track.
Talkerup, who will be handled by Gary Hall Jnr from the favourable No. 3 barrier on the front line, has raced only 24 times for six wins, 12 placings and $57,228 in prizemoney. At her most recent appearance, Talkerup raced behind the pacemaker and finished a sound third behind Donegal Rundlescreek and Forever Remembered over 2536m at Gloucester Park on July 21, 2017.
Talkerup’s chief rival looms large as Dodolicious, who is awkwardly drawn out wide at No. 8 on the front line. Dodolicious, who has a losing sequence of 14, gave a strong frontrunning display last Friday night when she finished a close second to Your Excused over 2130m.
Dodolicious, trained by Greg and Skye Bond, has amassed $486,216 in stakemoney from 18 wins, 11 seconds and three thirds from 45 starts. She was an M3-class pacer five starts ago before dropping back to an M2 classification. Talkerup is still an M0-class performer.
The two four-year-old mares in Friday night’s race are Susie Rocks and Soho Changeling and both will have many admirers. Susie Rocks was an impressive all-the-way winner over 2130m last Friday night, rating 1.57.5 and beating Im Stylish by a length. She will again be handled by Chris Lewis and faces a sterner task this week from barrier No. 7.
The Ross Olivieri-trained Soho Changeling was an encouraging second to Millwood Molly two starts ago before she finished an unlucky sixth behind Susie Rocks last Friday night when she was blocked for clear run in the final circuit.
