El Paco and Daryl Douglas win at Melton last Friday night.
El Paco has “gone to another level".
That's the opinion of his trainer, Joe Attard, whose half-brother to Kellys Nippa and Imgunnadogood -- who won 11 and 12 races between them -- is in career-best form at six years of age.
Last Friday night the gelding by Yankee Paco out of Kellybrooke won the Good Form 2.0 Trot at Melton from the back row by a half-neck over Cold Sister in 2:00.5 (last half-mile 58.4).
It was El Paco’s second win in his last three starts, having easily overcome a 20-metre impost to win the Pegasus Club Trotters Handicap at Tabcorp Park three weeks ago before a second to Elegant Image in track-record time (1:55.2 and 57.9) over 1720 metres in the Maori’s Idol Free-for-All.
“Last year I didn’t put him in the Great Southern Star because I didn’t feel he was quite up to it, but he’s improved a lot since then,” Attard said.
“We’ll give him a bit of a break in November then get him ready for the Great Southern Star this time.”
El Paco has gate two for the City of Melton Scotch Notch Memorial (Group 3) this Saturday night at Melton, drawn outside Cold Sister and inside Elegant Image (gate six).
The Andy Gath trained son of S J’s Photo will start a prohibitive favourite on the strength of his last-start win but El Paco is expected to be clear second pick with punters.
Attard knows how a good trotter goes, having trained Sammy Do Good (second to Sumthingaboutmaori in the Group 1 Australian Trotting Grand Prix in 2003) and Hope Reins Supreme, who made the Inter Dominion Trotters Championship Final at Harold Park in 1994 and finished ninth behind Diamond Field.
And he rates El Paco up there with Sammy Do Good. “This one’s just as good as him,” he said.
Speed mappers might have Elegant Image crossing to the lead on Saturday night and El Paco crossing Cold Sister, relegating the latter to three back the markers.
Attard said he wouldn’t give any instructions to driver Daryl Douglas, who has piloted El Paco at his past four runs for a form line of 3121, but admitted it looked likely his stable star would at least be able to cross the pole horse.
“He’s crossed Cold Sister twice now, so I don’t see why he couldn’t do it again but I leave that up to the driver,” he said.
“He’s pretty tough and he’ll keep on grinding away.
“He might not run a 27 quarter but he’ll grind out a couple of 28s, which usually takes the sting out most of them.”
The Scotch Notch is worth $20,505 and will be run at 8.30pm.