Champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr has given punters an important lead by opting to drive Rocknroll Lincoln in preference to the up-and-coming Whozideawasthis in the $22,000 Westral Security Doors And Screens Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Stuart McDonald will replace Hall behind Whozideawasthis, who has scored effortless victories at three of his past four starts, with Hall in the sulky. Whozideawasthis, a New Zealand-bred seven-year-old prepared by Gary Hall Snr, will start out wide at barrier seven on the front line in Friday night’s race.
Rocknroll Lincoln, a New Zealand-bred four-year-old, is trained at Boyanup by Justin Prentice and is sure to prove hard to beat from the favourable No. 2 barrier. Hall has driven Rocknroll Lincoln at his past two starts for a smart all-the-way victory over top-flight pacers Our Jimmy Johnstone and Tommy Be Good in the 2662m Group 3 Narrogin Cup and a head second to A Boy Named Rosie over 2130m at Gloucester Park after sustaining a spirited three-wide burst.
Rocknroll Lincoln, a winner at four of his 21 starts in New Zealand, has impressed in his brief career in Western Australia, with four wins and two seconds from nine starts.
Whozideawasthis revealed his customary sparkling gate speed when he set the pace from barrier four and after a leisurely first lap he sprinted over the final two 400m sections in 27.1sec. and 27.4sec. when he strolled to a four-length victory over Futurist last Friday night. That followed his easy victory over the richly-talented El Jacko the previous week.
McDonald has chosen to drive Whozideawasthis in preference to Our Zak Whitby, a consistent four-year-old he drove to victory at Pinjarra and Gloucester Park in two recent starts. He also was in the sulky when Our Zak Whitby finished a well-beaten fourth behind Sarah Goody at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon. Aldo Cortopassi has been engaged to drive the Ed Dewar-trained Our Zak Whitby, who will start from the No. 3 barrier.
While Rocknroll Lincoln and Whozideawasthis are sure to be strongly fancied, they will need to be at their best to beat the lightly-raced Zennart, who has a winning percentage of 63, with ten wins, three seconds and one third from 16 starts.
Zennart, trained by Hall Snr, will again be driven by Lauren Jones and he faces a moment of truth from the outside barrier (No. 9) against Rocknroll Lincoln and Whozideawasthis.
Zennart started from barrier seven at his most recent outing, last Friday week, when he raced three wide for the first 650m before getting to the breeze outside the pacemaker Risk in a 2536m event. He continued to race without cover before he forged to the front 100m from the post and won convincingly from Risk at a 1.57 rate, with final quarters of 27.8sec. and 27.5sec.
Jones, who has driven Zennart ten times for six wins, two seconds, one third and one sixth, said that she felt sure that the New Zealand-bred stallion had plenty up his sleeve and would have responded strongly if challenged in the closing stages.
