Zakara - Gary Hall Snr's first starter in a WA Pacing Cup
With a winning double at yesterday’s Pinjarra meeting trainer Gary Hall Snr brought up his 2900th win as a trainer courtesy of Caviar Star in the last race.
Hall, the most successful trainer in WA Pacing Cup history, trained his first winner with Plebette at Collie on 5th March 1971 and the first of 2159 city winners with Tobaree at Gloucester Park on 16th September 1972.
Hall will gear up his 58th starter in a WA Pacing Cup when Runrunjimmydunn starts in Friday night’s big race.
He has already trained a remarkable 11 winners of the State’s major race courtesy of The Falcon Strike (3 wins), Im Themightyquinn (3 wins), My Hard Copy (2 wins), Chicago Bull, Hokonui Ben and Tealsby Karita.
Even more remarkable is that those 11 wins have come in the last 17 seasons and Hall has also had eight placings in the race since The Falcon Strike brought up Hall’s first win in the race in 2002.
For the record Gary Hall’s first runner in a WA Pacing Cup was the stallion Zakara which finished 4th behind Westburn Grant, Franco Ice and Imprimartar on 3 January, 1992 in what will always be remembered as the most emotional win in the 106 year history of the race.
The story of that WA Pacing Cup, A Summer of Frost and Ice, won producer/commentator John Hunt a Joseph Coulter Award in 1993.
While his son Gary Hall Jnr won’t be behind Runrunjimmydunn on Friday night, Hall Jnr has an undeniable chance of recording his eighth win in the WA Pacing Cup when he takes the reins of the Justin Prentice trained Rocknroll Lincoln which has drawn well in barrier two inside the pre-post favourite My Field Marshal.
Hall Jnr will be having his 18th drive in the race and will be out to eclipse the Cup record seven winners tally he presently shares with former champion reinsman Phil Coulson.
Hall Jnr’s seven WA Pacing Cup wins have come behind The Falcon Strike (3), Im Themightyquinn (2), Chicago Bull and Tealsby Karita while Coulson’s seven winners in 22 Cup drives came per medium of Pure Steel (3), Lord Mina, Color Glo, Gammalite and Village Kid.
Coulson may well have won eight WA Pacing Cups had it not been for a stewards decision to refuse him the choice of drives on his two stable runners in the 1965 WA Cup.
Coulson trained both Hycraft and Pacing Lawn and the Chairman of Stewards Don Thomas refused to allow Coulson to drive Hycraft as no other driver had ever sat behind the sprint sensation Pacing Lawn whereas Hycraft had been driven by other drivers.
Ironically Don Thomas was Phil Coulson’s uncle but the family ties meant nothing when it came to his job as Chairman of Stewards. (see hoofnote)
As history records Hycraft, with Laurie Robinson at the reins, downed the champion Mercedes in the shadows of the post after the pair staged a veritable dogfight up the Gloucester Park straight.
Coulson watched on some distance back as Pacing Lawn finished third.
HOOFNOTE:
Don Thomas has one WA Pacing Cup record which will never be broken. He was just 15 years of age when he drove Adonaldson into 18th place in the WA Pacing Cup on Boxing Night 1935 for his father, trainer Fred Thomas. He is the youngest person to drive in the race.
Don was one of three Thomas brothers who drove in the Cup that year with Charlie winning the race with the Harry Moran trained Connie Glo and John Thomas driving his own nomination Nelson Pronto.
In addition two of Don Thomas’s brothers-in-law in Arthur Hough and Charlie Coulson drove Huon Pic and Con Derby respectively in the 1935 Cup.
Coincidentally Con Derby was a three-quarter brother to the winner Connie Glo and the brother and sister came to WA after each had won a Victoria Derby.
