Ryan Warwick Photo by www.gloucesterpark.com.au
Rarely has a combination of trainer and driver dominated the start of the season like Forrestdale trainers Greg and Skye Bond and reinsman Ryan Warwick, and punters should be well advised to adopt the motto “when on a good thing, stick to it” when making their investments at the meeting at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The Bond stable has nine runners, six of whom will be driven by the 38-year-old Warwick, who is enjoying the most successful couple of years in a splendid career in the sulky.
The Bonds and Warwick warmed up with a double with Mister Daytona and Mighty Major at Northam on Tuesday night. Warwick heads the national top 20 drivers’ list and the Bonds have a big lead on the national trainers’ premiership table.
Warwick leads with 50 wins from Queenslanders Peter McMullen (43) and Shane Graham (41) and Victorian Chris Alford (39) and the Bonds have prepared 61 winners and lead from Queensland’s Grant Dixon (43).
Warwick heads the WA drivers’ table with 50 wins, 17 ahead of Gary Hall jun. and the Bonds lead the WA list from Gary Hall sen. (23) and Ross Olivieri (17).
The best of the Bond-Warwick runners on Friday night appear to be Dodolicious, Vanquished, Delightful Offer and Risk.
Dodolicious, described by Warwick as “a horrible worker at home who gets the job done when she races,” will be on trial for the rich feature events for mares next month when she starts from barrier five in the 2130m Itzstein Pace in which she will clash with the in-form Hidden Bad and Foxy Dame and Giuliana Rancic.
Dodolicious made a successful return to racing after a spell last Friday week when she led from barrier two and held on to defeat the fast-finishing Foxy Dame, who had trailed her throughout.
Foxy Dame, who set a brisk pace before wilting to third behind Sheer Rocknroll and Chers Bettor Babe over 26536m last Friday night, is again perfectly drawn at barrier one this week and Shannon Suvaljko again looks certain to attempt an all-the-way win with the Mike Reed-trained mare.
The talented but under-achieving Giuliana Rancic is handily drawn at barrier two for Gary Hall jun. and she is capable of causing an upset, despite having a losing sequence of 19. She impressed last Friday night when she sprinted home fast from the rear to finish fourth behind Sheer Rocknroll.
Vanquished won with such authority last Friday night that he should be capable of repeating the dose in the $20,000 Popjoy Pace over 2130m. That was his ninth victory from his past 14 starts. He started from the outside (No. 9) and came from the rear to race in the breeze 1450m from home before getting to the front with 320m to travel and win, unextended, from Eric James.
“He did it pretty easily in the end and I didn’t turn the stick or pull the plugs,” Warwick said.
Vanquished will start from the outside (three) on the back line on Friday night and Warwick is likely to send the smart four-year-old forward in the middle stages in a race in which his chief rivals could well be the Glenn Elliott-trained Braeview Bomber and the Merv Jupp-trained The Storm Chief, who impressed when he ended a losing sequence of 31 last Friday night when he charged home from eighth at the 400m to burst to the front 110m from the post and won by four lengths from Superimposed.
Risk, a five-year-old by Changeover, is racing with great enthusiasm and he notched his 13th win from 37 starts when he was not extended in setting the pace and winning by more than a length from Braeview Bomber over 2130m last Friday night. He will start from the outside (barrier two) on the back line in the Fuller Pace in which he will clash with TABtouch interdominion championship hope John of Arc.
“He’s very push button,” said Warwick. “He’s definitely got a lot of ability and his high speed is his major asset.”
Herron trainer Clive Dalton has John of Arc ticking along nicely for his tilt at interdominion glory and the brilliant but injury-plagued seven-year-old will take a power of beating, despite his wide draw at No. 8 on the front line in the 2130m event this week.
John of Arc raced three wide early and then without cover before winning from the pacemaker Ideal Alice and Our Jimmy Johnstone at a 1.54.4 rate over 2130m last Friday week.
