Typhoon Tiff overcomes troubles
Outstanding four-year-old Typhoon Tiff has been a headache for ace trainer-reinsman Colin Brown, but she was on her best behaviour at Gloucester Park on Friday night when she scored a brilliant victory in the group 3 $30,000 Schrader Pace.
Her win at $9.30 over Has No Fear and Mandy Joan was a triumph for Brown, who has been at his wit’s end recently as he wrestled with her troubles and tractability.
“The reason why she has been going a bit ordinary lately was because she started to get sore heels and we had to put bar shows on her, and they badly affected her gait,” Brown explained.
“We had all sorts of trouble with her and we tried spreaders on her to try to get her off her knee and let out her hopples. She’s had go-straights and a one-legged spreader, and tonight she raced for the first time with conventional spreaders.
“Murray Lindau and I took her down to the track the other day and spent a fair bit of time on her (working with conventional spreaders), and we thought we had her right. But we still had to see how she would go tonight.
“We have done everything with her; we let her head down, let her hopples out and we changed just about every bit of gear we could until we came up with the right combination, and, touch wood, I think we’ve got her now.”
There is no little doubt that Typhoon Tiff, bred and owned by Colleen Lindsay, deserves to be recognised as one of the State’s best mares. She has raced only 19 times for ten wins, four placings and $188,167. As a two-year-old she finished a neck second to Majorpride in the group 1 Diamond Classic and as a three-year-old she won the group 2 Dainty’s Daughter Classic (beating Arma Indie) and the group 1 Westbred Classic (beating Mandy Joan).
Typhoon Tiff started from barrier No. 5 and Brown said that he had no pre-race set plan. “She tells you when she’s right, and she was extremely strong in the prelim,” he said. “She told me that she was on song, so that’s why I went forward.”
Typhoon Tiff dashed past the polemarker Queen Shenandoah and into the lead 120m after the start, but Brown handed up to Millwood Gucci about 230m later because that mare was threatening to pull strongly.
Mandy Joan, the $2.65 favourite, took a narrow lead with 300m to travel, with Typhoon Tiff hemmed in on the pegs. Brown then gained a split in between Millwood Gucci and Mandy Joan and Typhoon Tiff sprinted fast to win convincingly at a 1.55.5 rate over the 2130m. Has No Fear ($7), who raced in seventh position on the pegs, caught the eye as she charged home, out seven wide, to be second.
Convert Denario, a giant on the way up
Giant pacer Convert Denario is a rising seven-year-old who has had only 37 starts --- because of continuing stomach problems.
However, the New Zealand-bred gelding, a son of former champion pacer Changeover, is thriving under the care of astute Mt Helena trainer Ray Williams and is firmly on the path to becoming a major force in feature summer carnival events.
Driven by Michael Grantham, Convert Denario, the $2.30 favourite, set the pace and won the Glenroy Chaff Pace at a 1.57.4 rate over 2536m at Gloucester Park on Friday night. It was his first victory over a distance longer than 2130m.
The massive gelding who stands almost 17 hands and uses a 66-inch hopple (the longest I have encountered), was having only his fifth start for Williams, who trained the pacer early in 2018 after he had arrived in WA from Victoria where he had ten starts for four wins and two placings. He now has raced 37 times for 14 wins, 12 placings and $160,099 in prizemoney.
“He had a really bad stomach problem and he had a long time out in the paddock,” said Williams. “Finally, he resumed with trainer Clint Hall, and since then the stomach problem has been under control. But you’ve got to look after him.
“He doesn’t need much gear; the only thing we’ve got on him are pull-ups. He works differently to what he worked before. We don’t hopple him; we just gallop him. He climbs the hill, and it’s a pretty big hill, at my property.
“Part-owner Rowan Langridge (also a part-owner of former superstar Im Victorious) is helping me. He wants to learn the game and become a trainer, and I’m really happy with how he’s coming along.”
Bletchley Park, who started from the outside of the front line, maintained his splendid form when he was last in the middle stages and ran on strongly, three wide, from seventh at the bell to finish second, less than a length behind Convert Denario.
Olivieri notches his century
Ross Olivieri, winner of the WA trainers’ premiership eight times, celebrated his one hundredth winner for the 2019-20 season when Quick Stride caused an upset by winning the 2130m Cowden The Insurance Brokers Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Quick Stride, who started out wide at barrier eight and was an outsider at $29.10, surprised Olivieri when champion reinsman Chris Lewis brought the five-year-old WA-bred gelding home with a spirited burst from last at the 300m mark to hit the front 40m from the post and win by 2m from Delightfulreaction at a 1.57.9 rate.
“Of the ten horses we brought to Gloucester Park tonight, he was the least likely to win,” said Olivieri. “He put in a few little hops and skips, but when Chris pulled him out and gave him one on the rump, he went good, and his job was made easier because the rest of the field had done a bit.”
Lewis was happy with Quick Stride’s solid effort at his first stable for the Olivieri stable and at his first appearance for eight weeks. “I expected him to run on,” Lewis said. “When I pulled him out three wide, he tracked up good and when I asked him to go in the straight, he went to the line pretty well.”
Quick Stride, bred and owned by Bob Fowler’s Allwood Stud Farm, ended a losing sequence of 15 and took his record to 39 starts for nine wins, seven placings and $66,920 in stakes.
By American stallion Live Or Die, Quick Stride is out of the unraced Norther Luck mare Lucky Stride, whose dam Jessica Clare produced four winners, including Back To The Beach, who has raced 83 times for 13 wins, 17 placings and $81,285. Jessica Clare was prepared by Olivieri for her three city wins after she had been successful at Albany (four times), Geraldton, Wagin, Kalgoorlie and Northam.
Askmeilltellaya bred to succeed
When a pacer is related to a couple of world champions, there is a strong chance that he will develop into a smart performer.
That was the reason why Byford trainer Katja Warwick and her husband, former champion trainer-reinsman Trevor Warwick purchased Askmeilltellya at the Victorian yearling sale a couple of years ago for the WA Pacing syndicate.
Askmeilltellya was knocked down to the Warwicks for $20,000 and is proving an excellent buy. She was a $7.30 chance from out wide at barrier seven in the 2130m Perth Plasterboard Centre Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night, and she boosted her earnings to $122,164 from seven wins and nine placings from 31 starts when she won in fine style from the pacemaker and $2.50 favourite Miss Eerie.
Driven by star reinsman Gary Hall jnr, Askmeilltellya dashed forward, three wide, from the rear soon after the start and then worked in the breeze before getting to the front 250m from home. She sped over the final 400m in 28.4sec. and rated 1.59.6.
“She was unplaced from wide barriers at her previous two starts when she ran the fastest last lap both times,” said Katja Warwick. “So, it was our idea to go forward tonight. She’s a pretty tough filly and she doesn’t get intimidated. So, that was the plan, to push forward, and it worked out.”
The Warwick stable also had two other runners in Friday night’s event, Red Hot Lady (who finished a good fourth) and Rockin The Trend (fifth).
“I’m super happy with the other two fillies,” Warwick said. “They’re all very fit and they thrive on racing. They don’t do much during the week because they race so frequently. They just play around in between their races, and that makes them nice and happy.
“Askmeilltellya is exceptionally well bred. Pacific Fella and Pacific Renegade were world champions. We were able to buy Askmeilltellya for $20,000 because she was quite small as a yearling. But she had that look in her eye.”
Askmeilltellya, by Somebeachsomewhere, is out of the American-bred mare Mollys Lucky Star, who had 90 starts for 15 wins, 21 placings and $96,700. Mollys Lucky Star’s granddam One More Kiss produced Pacific Fella, who earned $1,064,631 from 19 wins and 23 placings from 67 starts, and Pacific Renegade raced 196 times for 37 wins, 58 placings and $764,247.
Surgery revives Im Rocknroll Magic
New Zealand-bred seven-year-old Im Rocknroll Magic has been troubled by respiratory problems for much of his career, but throat surgery early this year has been successful and he is now enjoying racing, having no problem with his breathing.
He is now racing keenly for Hopeland trainer Debra Lewis and impressed when he finished with a powerful three-wide burst from tenth and last at the bell to win the 2096m Westral Handicap at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Im Rocknroll Magic did not race as a two and three-year-old and had 21 starts in New Zealand as a four, five and six-year-old for three wins before winning four times from 13 starts in New South Wales and once from four runs in Queensland. His first seven starts for the Lewis stable and new owners Luke Montgomery and Mark Lewis have produced two wins and three seconds.
Champion reinsman Chris Lewis was impressed with Im Rocknroll Magic’s performance on Friday night when he started at $7.30 and surged home from last at the bell to defeat the pacemaker Kiwi Bloke ($5.50) and Atmospherical ($15).
“He wasn’t quick away from the outside barrier on the 10-metre line,” said Lewis. “But I was pretty pleased with the way he finished off. He seemed to enjoy the soft track. He’s had his breathing problems and, hopefully, we’re on top of all those, and we might now see the best of him.”
Im Rocknroll Magic is out of former star mare Foreal, who raced 57 times for 18 wins, 19 placings and $664,800 in prizemoney. The winner of the New South Wales Oaks in February 2005 and the Ladyship Mile at Harold Park in November that year, Foreal finished fifth behind Blacks A Fake in the Interdominion Championship final in Hobart in April 2006 and third to the same star pacer in the Inters final at Globe Derby Park in January 2007.
Im Rocknroll Magic is a half-brother to star pacer My Field Marshal, who has raced 75 times for 29 wins, 25 placings and $1,492,582. My Field Marshal won the Miracle Mile at Menangle in February 2018, beating home a host of stars, including Lennytheshark, Lazarus, Soho Tribeca, Tiger Tara and Jilliby Kung Fu.
Local fans enjoyed watching My Field Marshal at Gloucester Park in the summer of 2018-19 when he won the group 2 Village Kid Sprint and the Fremantle Cup.
Evergreen Bettor Party wins again
Indefatigable ten-year-old Bettor Party continues to race in fine form for Hopeland owner-trainer Giles Inwood and he notched his 40TH victory when he beat Rock Me Over and Jimmy Mack in the $17,000 Better Your Bet With TABtouch Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Inwood bought the old gelding about 15 weeks ago for a mere $4000, and his 11 starts for him have produced two wins and two thirds for stakes of $28,405.
Bettor Party, who has no injury concerns, now has had 208 starts for 40 wins, 54 placings and stakes of $343,778.
He was favourite at $3.10 from barrier four and Chris Voak gave him a perfect trip in the one-out, one-back position before sending him forward, three wide, 600m from home. He went past the pacemaker Madame Meilland with 375m to travel and fought on doggedly to win by a head from $4.40 chance Rock Me Over, who trailed the winner throughout and finished strongly. Jimmy Mack ($3.60) ran home powerfully from last at the bell to be a neck away in third place.
Cortopassi praises Art Tutor
Trainer-reinsman Aldo Cortopassi concedes that Art Tutor has no pretentions of being a star pacer, but he declares that the five-year-old deserves high praise for his competitive spirit and consistency.
“I haven’t had a more consistent horse for a long time and no horse deserved to win a city-class race than him,” he said after driving him to an easy victory in the 2130m Direct Trades Supply Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“When he finds the front, he keeps rolling. Things worked out really well for him tonight.”
Art Tutor, the $2.70 favourite from the No. 3 barrier, worked his way to the front after 280m and relished his frontrunning role. He scored by just under two lengths from $17 chance Bettor Finish, who trailed him throughout.
Art Tutor, owned by Bob and Ruth Poolman, has earned $104,795 from his ten wins and 29 placings from 91 starts.
Carter Micheal flies home
Six-year-old New Zealand-bred stallion Carter Micheal, a smart all-the-way winner two starts previously, revealed his versatility at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he began from the No. 2 barrier and was nursed in the one-out, one-back position by Emily Suvaljko.
Excellent value at $9.20, Carter Micheal was fifth on the home turn before flying home to snatch a last-stride victory by a head from $21 chance Baylan Jett, who had dashed to the front 500m after the start and then gave a bold frontrunning display.
Mister Bushido ($23) sustained a strong three-wide burst from last at the 900m mark to finish a close third, while his stablemate and $1.22 favourite Robbie Easton faded to finish last in the field of nine.
From the No. 1 barrier, Robbie Easton led for the first 220m before Bracken Sky charged to the front and then relinquished the lead to Baylan Jett 300m later.
Carter Micheal, prepared by Nathan Turvey, has been a wonderful moneyspinner who now has had 78 starts for 19 wins, 25 placings and $185,663 in prizemoney.
