Maczaffair rounds them up at Gloucester Park.
Henley Brook trainer Mike Reed holds the whip hand in the WA Hall of Fame Pace for three-year-old fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night after his last-start winners Beach Goddess and Maczaffair drew barriers one and two, respectively, in the 2130m event.
And he gave punters a good lead when he said he favoured Maczaffair slightly ahead of Beach Goddess, tipping her to be the fastest to begin.
“I think that Maczaffair may be too quick (early) for Beach Goddess,” he said. “Beach Goddess is also a good beginner and good pacemaker, like she showed when she led from the No. 1 barrier, set the pace and won from Allmightyjoelouis last Friday night.
“I’ll speak to the owners to see what we’ll do. I’d say that one of them will be the leader and the other will be sitting behind the leader. I’ve always liked Maczaffair, but both fillies are very good and are racing very well. Beach Goddess can sit and sprint.”
The stablemates have clashed three times in races, with Beach Goddess finishing ahead of Maczaffair twice. At their most recent clash, last Friday week, Maczaffair (barrier six) finished boldly from sixth at the bell to win from the pacemaker Susies Desire, while Beach Goddess (barrier seven) fought on from fifth on the pegs at the bell to be fourth.
Reed is confident that both Maczaffair and beach Goddess will perform strongly on Friday night to clinch a place in the field for the $50,000 Dainty’s Daughter Classic on Friday week.
“It’s a good field this Friday night, but we’ve had the luck with the draws and hold the key to the race,” he said.
Boyanup trainer-reinsman Justin Prentice has three runners (Lady Luca, Somewhereonlyiknow and Betshes Precious) in the race and he has decided to drive Lady Luca, who will start from the No. 3 barrier in the field of eight.
“Lady Luca is my major chance and she is going very well,” Prentice said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get the barriers I wanted. At her latest start, Lady Luca’s fitness told on her a bit when she hit the front and then got a bit tired. I thought that if she had drawn inside the two Reed fillies she would take a lot of beating. However, she’s not impossible.
Somewhereonlyiknow is resuming after a spell and will be driven by Nathan Turvey from barrier 6. Betshes Precious (Tom Buchanan) will start from the outside barrier. Somewhereonlyiknow went for a spell after winning four in a row in August-September and Betshes Precious notched her fourth win when she finished solidly to beat Soho Changeling at Pinjarra on Monday of last week.
“Somewhereonlyiknow is a nice filly on the way up, but the barrier draw hurts her,” Prentice said. “Betshes Precious needed to draw really well to figure in this field.”
Ryan Warwick said that the Greg and Skye Bond-trained filly Hit It Rich was a smart type who had impressed in winning at Bunbury and Albany at her first two appearances in WA after arriving from New Zealand where she finished third at her only start.
“She can run and is a pretty nice filly,” Warwick said. “I’m pretty confident that Hit It Rich is better than Beach Goddess and I expect that she will develop into a filly who is just as good as Maczaffair.”
