“Maczaffair has good gate speed and if she leads she will be very hard to beat,” declared trainer Mike Reed when assessing the four-year-old’s prospects in the $25,000 RSM Australia Rotary Club Fremantle Pace over 2536m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Maczaffair will start from the No. 2 barrier on the front line and Shannon Suvaljko will be hellbent on beating out polemarker Dodolicious.
“She loves the 2536m and the further they go, the better she likes it,” said Reed, who will also be represented by Shandale, who will be driven by Chris Lewis from the outside (No. 9) on the front line.
Maczaffair, who has amassed $379,787 from 18 wins, seven seconds and two thirds from 38 starts, gave further proof of her ability as a frontrunner two starts ago when she began from barrier three, took the lead after 300m and won the group 2 $50,000 WASBA Breeders Stakes at a 1.55.6 rate over 2130m.
Then, last Friday night she started off the 30m mark in a 2503m stand and raced in eighth position in the one-wide line before starting a three-wide move 700m from home. She fought on determinedly to be fifth behind the pacemaker Better Scoot, who dashed over the final quarters in 27.8sec. and 28.3sec.
“I clocked her to run the final half-mile, out three deep, in 55.5sec.,” said Reed.
Dodolicious, the only other mare in Friday night’s race, will start from the No. 1 barrier and Ryan Warwick is likely to use the five-year-old’s good gate speed in a bid to withstand Maczaffair’s early bid for the lead. It is problematic whether Dodolicious will be able to hold out Maczaffair.
Dodolicious will be driven by Colin Brown, with Greg and Skye Bond’s other runner, Our Jimmy Johnstone, to be handled by the stable’s No. 1 driver Ryan Warwick.
Our Jimmy Johnstone, who will start from barrier five, is in top form, with his past eight starts producing two wins and five placings. He started from barrier six in a 2130m event last Friday night when he raced three wide before charging to the front after 550m. He then gave a bold frontrunning display to win by a length from stablemate Galactic Star at a 1.55.4 rate.
Maczaffair, Our Jimmy Johnstone and Bettors Fire look set to fight out the finish. Trainer-reinsman Kyle Harper said that he was confident that the nine-year-old Bettors Fire would run a bold race.
“Barrier draws are not so important in races over 2536m,” he said. “We’ll play our cards according to the way things unfold at the start. If the race is run to suit Bettors Fire will be a very big chance of winning. Maczaffair and Our Jimmy Johnstone look to be the horses to beat.”
