Newsy completes Warwick’s quartet
Ryan Warwick earned the crown as the king of Gloucester Park on Friday night when the lightly-raced Newsy burst into serious WA Oaks contention with an easy victory in the 2130m Tokyo Olympics on Seven Pace.
Her win completed a fabulous night for the 42-year-old Warwick, giving him four wins from four consecutive drives, following successes with Wainui Creek, Mighty Conqueror and Lawrence --- with all four winners being prepared by champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond.
Warwick and the Bond stable continued in fine form at Bunbury’s Donaldson Park on Saturday night, winning with Ifeel Sikdarl ($7), Be Rock Hard ($1.18) and The Darling ($1.45).
Newsy, having her third start as a three-year-old and only her seventh career start, overcame difficulties to record a smart victory by just under two lengths from Always An Angel, rating 1.56.4.
A solidly-supported $3.30 second favourite, Newsy missed the start by more than a length and settled down in sixth position, with $23 chance Yellowroseoftexas setting the pace.
Warwick then stole a march on his rivals when he sent Newsy forward with a fast three-wide burst to take the lead after 900m. Black Jack Baby, the $2.05 favourite from the outside barrier (No. 9), raced at the rear before Chris Voak followed a fast three-wide burst from Always An Angel approaching the bell.
Always An Angel, driven by Gary Hall jnr, got to the breeze with just under a lap to travel, leaving Black Jack Baby trapped out three wide. Black Jack Baby fought on doggedly to finish a well-beaten fourth, just behind the third placegetter Royal Essence.
Warwick explained Newsy’s early troubles, saying: “The new mobile took off pretty quick, and if Newsy doesn’t get her head on it early she can do that (lose ground at the start). The No. 5 horse Royal Essence was playing around a bit and didn’t give me the ability to get straight on to the arm.
“I thought that the leader (Yellowroseoftexas) wasn’t the right leader, and even though the speed wasn’t slow, it was an opportunity to go when I did. It was an opportunistic move, and Newsy should be cherry ripe for the Oaks.”
The $150,000 WA Oaks will be run next Friday week, with the New Zealand-bred Newsy, who has had seven starts (all in WA) for five wins and a second placing, emerging as a major threat to the brilliant Black Jack Baby.
Newsy, by Bettors Delight, is the third foal out of the unraced mare Ultimate Art, whose dam Princess Paua produced the evergreen Durango Kid, who won 24 races in Australia and 18 in America.
Lavra Joe reigns supreme
“He’s done that on his ear,” beamed proud owner-trainer Ray Jones after his powerful colt Lavra Joe had crushed his rivals in the 7News Perth Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
And champion reinsman Chris was just as enthusiastic, saying: “He’s becoming a real professional. He came off the gate beautifully and he wasn’t flat out, even when I let him move along in the final half in 54.8sec. He has done that within himself.”
Lavra Joe is in all-conquering form and is sure to prove extremely hard to beat in the $200,000 Sky Channel WA Derby on April 30. His win on Friday night by almost five metres over the talented but inexperienced Jumpingjackmac boosted his record to 28 starts for 16 wins, seven placings and $213,727 in prizemoney.
“It was just what he needed,” said Jones. “He needed one more run here because the Battle of Bunbury is on April 9, and if he didn’t race here tonight there would have been too big a gap between runs.
“After the Battle of Bunbury Lavra Joe will run in the Country Derby two weeks after that race. And a week after the Country Derby he will run in the WA Derby. So, all that means is that he will have two hoppled runs before the Derby.”
Lavra Joe, the $1.04 favourite, began speedily from the No. 5 barrier and sped past Aussie Scooter and into the lead after 75m. The race then developed into an Indian file affair for the six runners, with Jumpingjackmac, the second fancy at $7.50, in fourth spot.
Give Us A Wave ($23) was eased off the pegs 300m from home and Gary Hall jnr then followed that colt. Jumpingjackmac, having his second start after an absence of 17 weeks, was fourth 50m from the post and finished strongly to be second.
Wainui Creek is turning the corner
Wainui Creek, unplaced at her previous four starts, bounced back to top form with a convincing victory at $10 in the group 2 $50,000 Channel 7 Empress Stakes over 2536m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“I don’t think she has been going that well,” said star reinsman Ryan Warwick. “I thought she has been a bit off, mainly with her attitude and not really with the way she has been racing. Her attitude wasn’t as good as we thought it could have been.
“But she has started to turn the corner. She raced three back on the pegs and a few good things happened for her. When Sweet Maddison was in front, I though she wasn’t the right leader. But when you have drawn barrier two, you’ve got to lead.
“I thought what made the race for us was when Junior (Gary Hall jnr) went forward with Alice Kay in the second lap.”
Alice Kay ($4.80) was ninth with 1400m to travel when Hall set her alight and she sprinted fast in a bid to take the lead from Sweet Maddison, who resisted the challenge. Wainui Creek continued to race in sixth position, three back on the pegs, and Warwick was able manoeuvre the mare into the one-wide line with 420m to travel.
Wainui Creed went five wide on the home turn and with 95m to go she burst to the front, overhauling the $3.60 favourite Star Of Diamonds, who had surged into the lead, out four wide, with 250m to travel. Has No Fear ($9) finished strongly to be second, ahead of Star Of Diamonds and Sheez Our Hope ($9).
Star Of Diamonds started from the back line and was eighth in the middle stages before sustaining a strong three-wide run to be fifth at the bell.
Wainui Creek, a five-year-old Bettors Delight mare who raced 27 times in New Zealand for six wins and 12 placings, has had 11 starts in Western Australia for four wins and one second placing. Her win on Friday night boosted her earnings to $270,696 and gave Warwick his second success in the Empress Stakes --- after he guided the Grant Williams-trained Asian Paradise to a one metre win over Billabong Girl in March 2005.
Second group 3 win for Peterson
Twenty-year-old Corey Peterson landed his second group 3 winner when he drove $1.40 favourite Extradite to a comfortable all-the-way victory in the $30,000 Clarke final at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
His previous group 3 winner was One For Dave Andme, who started at $5.50 and defeated To Fast To Serious in the John Higgins Memorial last July.
“Tonight, it was a drop in grade for Extradite, really,” said Peterson who drove the New Zealand-bred six-year-old for trainer Kim Prentice.
“He had the perfect draw (barrier No. 1) and he’s a good frontrunner. I never felt in doubt; I had a look around at the 200m and there was nothing making ground. He has come on in leaps and bounds since Kim changed his work.”
Extradite had the luxury of a slow lead time of 38.7sec. and was able to amble through the first quarter of the final mile in 31.9sec. before Peterson increased the tempo and the Washington VC gelding ran the final 400m sections in 29.2sec., 27.3sec. and 28.1sec. to record a mile rate of 1.57.3.
Henwood Bay, racing first-up, trailed Extradite all the way and finished second, with Lightning Jolt finishing a sound third after enjoying an ideal passage, one-out and one-back.
Peterson has formed a wonderful association with Extradite, having driven the gelding eleven times for six wins, two seconds and three thirds.
Hall maintains top spot
An easy all-the-way triumph by Our Rhythm N Blues in the 2130m Flashpoint On Seven Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night gave champion reinsman Gary Hall jnr the first leg of a double and enabled him to stay on top of the national drivers’ premiership table.
Hall scored with Griffin Lodge in the final event to take his tally of wins for the season to 60 and hold the lead over Queensland’s Peter McMullen (56 wins) and Tasmanian Jack Laugher (47).
Our Rhythm N Blues, prepared by Gary Hall snr, was a hot $1.30 favourite from the prized No. 1 barrier and Hall enjoyed an armchair drive behind the pacemaker who strolled to victory over $26 chance Major Stare, who trailed the leader throughout. Space Junk ($31) fought on to finish third after working in the breeze for much of the way.
The seven-year-old New Zealand-bred Our Rhythm N Blues, a son of Rock N Roll Heaven, has been an honest performer throughout his 83-start career of 14 wins, 14 seconds and 14 thirds for stakes of $177,672.
Tenno Sho ends losing run of 18
Veteran square gaiter Tenno Sho ended a ten-month drought and broke a losing sequence of 18 when he was on his best behaviour and gave an impressive frontrunning display to beat Dark Secret by five and a half lengths in the group 3 Wake Up With Sunrise On Seven Trotters Sprint at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The eight-year-old Victorian-bred gelding rated 1.57.4 to equal the track record for trotters over the 1730m journey. The record was set by Invasive when he won a group 2 Great Southern Stars qualifying heat, beating Geez Speedy Gonzalez on January 15, 2016.
“Tenno Sho has been a bit of a handful, and credit is due to Michael Grantham who was driving him for the first time,” said owner John Jelf. “When he’s behind the mobile he sort of jumps like a kangaroo.”
Tenno Sho had been unplaced at his previous eight starts and was on his worst behaviour when last in a field of six at Gloucester Park last Tuesday week when he raced roughly, hung in and broke twice in running.
“He also suffered from heat stress after that event,” said Jelf who bought the gelding quite cheaply from Nathan Turvey more than a year ago.
Tenno Sho is one of several trotters in the Pinjarra stables of Tracy Reay, who was successful with On Fast Forward in the race in which Tenno Sho finished last on Tuesday of last week.
Tenno Sho was a $23 tote outsider on Friday night, with On Fast Forward at $13 and Reay’s other runner Mortician at $81. On Fast Forward finished seventh and Mortician was sixth in the field of ten.
Reay has also had success with pacers, winning races in 2005 and 2006 with veteran chestnut Kobiashi Maru, and her most recent success with a pacer was when New Zealand-bred El Cartel won at Gloucester Park on Tuesday September 4, 2018, after the mare had won at $68.10 in a metropolitan-class event, beating the $2.90 favourite Sheez Edgy by a head on December 22, 2017.
Tenno Sho has had 131 starts for 15 wins, 42 placings and stakes of $144,154.
Voak’s daring tactics pay dividends
Star reinsman Chris Voak faced a tough decision last week when he had to decide between Carrera Mach and Bracken Sky as his drive in the Game Footy Tipping Competition Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
He had handled the Ross Olivieri-trained Carrera Mach in 32 races for four wins, eleven seconds and two thirds, while he had driven the Debbie Padberg-trained Bracken Sky four times for a second, a third, a fourth and a sixth placing.
Both pacers had drawn out wide in the 2130m event, and after plenty of thought Voak chose Bracken Sky (barrier nine) ahead of Carrera Mach (seven).
He proved to be an excellent judge, with Bracken Sky, a $16.20 chance, winning by just over a length from Gran Chico ($3.20), with $41 chance Carrera Mach, with Chris Playle in the sulky, sustaining a strong finishing burst from eighth at the bell to be a neck away in third place.
Bracken Sky’s victory can be attributed to Voak’s daring tactics. He got Bracken Sky away brilliantly and the six-year-old burst past the $3.20 favourite Walsh to take the lead after just 100m. Then, about 280m later Voak surrendered the lead to Gran Chico.
Bracken Sky’s prospects appeared hopeless when he was hopelessly hemmed in on the pegs behind Gran Chico approaching the home turn. But then the breeze horse Rakasinc began to wilt, enabling Voak to ease Bracken Sky into the clear with 110m to travel. Bracken Sky charged to the front in the straight and won convincingly at a 1.56 rate.
Bracken Sky, who ended a losing sequence of nine, has had 99 starts for 16 wins and 30 placings for stakes of $190,975. He had 45 starts in New South Wales for ten wins and 14 placings, and his 54 WA starts have produced six wins and 16 placings.
Griffin Lodge set for the Pearl
A supercharged finishing burst paved the way for smart colt Griffin Lodge’s dashing victory in the 1730m Channel 7 Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Driven by Gary Hall jnr, Griffin Lodge, a $4.90 chance, raced in last position in the field of six before he thundered home to beat Seven No Trumps by five lengths at a 1.56.2 rate.
He was still last and starting a three-wide move approaching the 400m mark when the leader Linebacker broke into a gallop, leaving the breeze horse Bushwacked in front. Then, in the twinkling of an eye Griffin Lodge, out three wide, burst past Bushwacked and raced away.
Olivieri was delighted with the colt’s splendid performance and he said that Hall had said Griffin Lodge would have won even if Linebacker had not galloped.
Griffin Lodge, an easy winner at Pinjarra on debut at his previous start, will be set for the Pearl Classic at the end of May. He is by Fly Like An Eagle and is the first foal out of the unraced Grinfromeartoear mare Bignightout, who showed plenty of promise before breaking down with tendon problems.
Griffin Lodge’s great granddam Nolas Nuisance produced seven winners, including Rich And Spoilt, who had 42 starts for 20 wins, 14 placings and stakes of $301,630.
Olivieri said that part-owner and breeder Rod Pye had always wanted to name a pacer after Griffin, a legendary mythological creature with a body, tail and back legs of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. Griffin Lodge certainly has the potential to fly like an eagle.
Warwick praises Mighty Conqueror
Ace reinsman Ryan Warwick heaped praise on outstanding six-year-old pacer Mighty Conqueror after driving him to an easy victory in the $25,000 Dancing With The Stars On Seven Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“He is back to how he was in his four-year-old year when I thought he was going better than when he won the WA Pacing Cup as a five-year-old in January 2020,” Warwick said. “I think he is a better horse now than when he won the Pacing Cup.
“I don’t know what his target is, but it is just good to see him back in this form. I’d say the next Pacing Cup would be an aim.”
Mighty Conqueror, who beat stablemates Vampiro and Our Jimmy Johnstone in the WA Pacing Cup in January 2020, finished third behind Vultan Tin and Chicago Bull in the WA Pacing Cup in December 2020.
The New Zealand-bred gelding by American Ideal, is lightly raced, with his 37 starts producing 18 wins, nine placings and stakes of $579,798.
On Friday night, Mighty Conqueror was favourite at $1.20 and from the No. 1 barrier he set a brisk pace and scored by a length from Diego ($7), rating 1.55.7 over the 2536m journey, with final quarters of 29sec., 29.1sec., 28.5sec. and 27.9sec.
Lawrence set for Easter Cup
Ace trainers Greg and Skye Bond produced Lawrence in fine fettle for his first-up appearance in the 2130m Big Brother On Seven Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The New Zealand-bred five-year-old was a $2 favourite who began well from barrier No. 4 to dash to the front 200m after the start and then set a solid pace before winning convincingly from stablemate Poisedtopounce ($5) and Boom Time ($5) at a 1.56.5 rate.
After having 28 starts in New Zealand for five wins and 11 placings, Lawrence has raced only six times in Western Australia for four wins and two seconds.
“Lawrence and Glenledi Chief will go to the Easter Cup,” said star reinsman Ryan Warwick. “They’ve both got good ability and deserve a chance to run in the Easter Cup.”
The $50,000 Easter Cup is a stand over 2902m and will be run at Gloucester Park next Friday afternoon.
Lawrence has made one appearance in a stand in WA when he had a tough run in the breeze and finished a one-length second to Triroyale Brigade over 2503m at Gloucester Park last December.
He raced in eight standing-start events in New Zealand for two seconds, four fourths, an eighth and a tenth placing. His seconds were over 2700m at Gore in December 2019 and over 2600m at Wyndham in January 2020.
He started well off the front at Gore, led after 100m and remained in front for the first 1200m before taking the trail behind the favourite Bettathanfast. The final 400m was covered in 28.4sec. and Lawrence finished determinedly to be a half-neck second to Bettathanfast.
In the race on the grass track at Wyndham, Lawrence started off the 10m mark and was favourite. He settled in eighth position and was sixth in the one-out, one-back spot at the bell before starting a three-wide move 600m from home. He went seven wide on the home turn and charged home to finish second to the $25 pacemaker I’mallaboutthebase, who sprinted over the final 400m in 28.6sec.
Glenledi Chief is unbeaten in four appearances for the Bond stable in WA --- all in stands, three at Narrogin and one at Pinjarra. He has yet to appear at Gloucester Park. His 22 New Zealand starts produced three wins and six placings. He raced in five stands for two thirds over 2600m, a fourth over 2600m and a sixth and an eighth.
