Giles Inwood has been concentrating on life as a bricklayer in recent years before returning to the world of harness racing in the past six months and he has high hopes of driving his first metropolitan-stakes winner for 2365 days when he handles veteran pacer Bronze Seeker in the $22,000 $7 Pints at JP’s Sportsbar Pace over 2130m Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Bronze Seeker, an honest and reliable nine-year-old trained at Byford by Peter Anderson, has drawn the coveted No. 1 barrier and should fight out the finish.
He has started from the No. 1 barrier ten times in his 107 starts over 2130m at Gloucester Park and has revealed excellent gate speed. He has set the pace in three of those ten races for a win, a second and a third placing. In the other seven events Bronze Seeker has led early and then sat behind the pacemaker for three seconds and two thirds. The Mach Three gelding is also noted as a smart sit-sprinter.
Inwood will have the option of leading or taking a sit behind the pacemaker on Friday night.
Bronze Seeker can improve sharply on his unplaced efforts at his past four starts when he began out wide at barrier seven three times and from the back line once. He started from the inside of the back line last Friday night and raced three back on the pegs before being blocked for a clear passage in the final lap, finishing ninth behind Dominate The Dojo.
Five starts ago, when he began from barrier two on the front line Bronze Seeker trailed the pacemaker Khun Ratha before finishing powerfully to be second to that pacer, with final quarters of 28.4sec. and 27.6sec.
The main dangers to Bronze Seeker appear to be Your Excused, Responder and Jailbreak. The Bob Mellsop-trained Your Excused, to be driven by Gary Hall Jnr, has good gate speed and has maintained his sound form with thirds behind Pick My Pocket and Ocean Ridge at his past two starts.
The 33-year-old Inwood has driven 37 metro-class winners, the most recent being Therecomesatime, an 18/1 chance who finished boldly from sixth (three wide) at the bell to beat Son of Fergie by 7m in a heat of the Christmas Gift at Gloucester Park on December 9, 2011.
Since resuming driving this year Inwood has driven nine winners (six at Albany and one each at Williams, Northam and Bunbury) to take his career record to 245 winners and 481 placegetters for stakes of $1.6 million from 2087 drives.
His first drive in a race was behind Curtling, who finished eighth behind Go Gigi in a three-year-old event in Kalgoorlie on September 9, 2006. He landed his first winner at his 18th drive behind Homer Lavros, who beat Howzat Duke over 2150m in Kalgoorlie on November 4, 2011. He was also successful at his next drive at the meeting, with Total Motivation beating Panjandrum.
Inwood landed a treble with Archeo, Motoring Vicolo and Jimmybgood at Kellerberrin on April 15, 2007, and his first Gloucester Park winner was behind $49.70 outsider, the Anderson-trained Morganator, who finished fast to get up and beat the pacemaker Mai Tai over 1730m on July 20, 2007.
