Trainer-reinsman Kyle Harper is delighted at Bettors Fire?s return to racing.
Star pacer Bettors Fire is being set for the $40,000 Easter Cup on Thursday week and he will contest the 1730m Celebrating Melissa Renouf Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night in preparation for the Cup, a 2902m standing-start feature event.
The eight-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding is a brilliant sprinter as well as being an outstanding stayer who has raced in only three standing-start events --- for three wins --- in his first 54 starts in Western Australia.
Trainer-reinsman Kyle Harper is delighted at Bettors Fire’s return to racing, after an absence of 12 weeks, when he thundered home from last at the bell to win easily from the fast-finishing Bronze Seeker in a 2130m mobile event last Friday night.
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Bettors Fire, who has amassed $635,702 from 32 wins and 19 placings from 83 starts, will be a hot favourite when he starts from the outside barrier (No. 8) in Friday night’s race in which he will clash with in-form pacers Risk, American Boy and Bronze Seeker as well as smart six-year-old Crusader Banner, who will be having his first start for eight months.
“On paper, it looks like his race to lose, but if I drive him right, it’s his race to win” Harper said. “I looked after him, first-up, last week and took him back at the start. The intentions will be to send him off the gate this week.
“But there are some very quick beginners drawn inside of us and I’ll probably have to assess (the situation) early and see what the speed is like. Getting to the front would be nice. He’s the class runner in the race, but just because he’s better than the other runners doesn’t mean that he’s a good thing. There’s no such thing as a good thing.
“In a short trip at Gloucester Park, if you’re not up there, it’s tough, no matter how good you are. I’ll need to get him up there at some point, whether it’s off the arm or if we make a move a bit later. That’s something that I’ll have to assess at the time. He’s got the speed to cross most of his rivals, but we don’t want to cut off our nose to spite our face.
“He’s ready to run a pretty slick mile. I have freshened him up since last Friday’s win and I’m looking forward to a successful campaign.”
Harper said that Bettors Fire would have a handful of starts before going out for a winter spell and then being brought back to be prepared for the Interdominion championship series at Gloucester Park in November-December and the Fremantle Cup and WA Pacing Cup.
Bettors Fire won a heat of the Inters last summer (when he defeated Smolda) before finishing sixth behind Smolda in the final. He finished powerfully to be fourth behind Chicago Bull in the Fremantle Cup last January, but a hoof abscess prevented him from contesting the rich WA Pacing Cup a week later.
Harper has a second string in Friday night’s sprint in the lowly-assessed Bettor Than Money, a nine-year-old M1-class pacer who will start from barrier five on the front line. The gelding will be driven by Harper’s elder brother Donald.
Better Than Money, an all-the-way winner over 1730m at a 1.56.4 rate at Gloucester Park in mid-February, possesses sparkling gate speed, with Kyle Harper saying: “He runs a very good mile and leaves the arm nearly as fast as Bettors Fire. If he jumps to the front, he’ll run a very good race.”
Risk, rained by Greg and Skye Bond, will be driven by Ryan Warwick from the No. 6 barrier on the front line and is capable of a bold showing at his third appearance after a spell. He has resumed in good style with placings behind American Boy and Kiwi Legend.
American Boy, trained by Gary Hall sen., will start from the No. 3 barrier with Lauren Jones in the sulky. He maintained his wonderful form at Gloucester Park last Friday night when he started from the outside of the front line and finished determinedly from last in the middle stages to be second to Twoandahalf Tigers over 2130m.
Maddison Brown will drive the Peter Anderson-trained Bronze Seeker for the first time and the eight-year-old is in career-best form. He was most impressive last Friday night when he was last in a field of eight with 600m to travel and was being cast back behind the tiring Firebomb. He was seventh (five wide) at the 250m mark and ran home powerfully to be second to Bettors Fire.
Crusader Banner, trained by Hall sen., is an interesting runner who will be making his first appearance since finishing fast into third place behind Run Oneover and Cyamach over 2130m on June 24 last year. He has raced 41 times for 13 wins and 11 placings and will be driven by Micheal Ferguson from barrier seven.
