The $25,000 TABtouch Battle of Bunbury took centre stage on Saturday night and it did not disappoint, with WA sensation Lavra Joe creating fireworks on the racetrack.
Trained by Bridgetown local Ray Jones and Driven to perfection by Chris Lewis, the gelding managed to make his way to the lead in the early stages and was too strong for his rivals coming home in a blistering last half of 54.6 seconds, mile rating 1:54:7 over the 2100m.
“Leading up to last night he had a quiet week, he just seems to win all the time, so you just come to expect that. It’s quite amazing what he does. You go there hoping that you don’t get interfered with and that he just keeps running the way he has been going.” Said Jones.
Galant in defeat, Pinny Tiger posed a threat down the home straight but Lavra Joe kicked, winning by 4.9m.
The young poster boy for WA harness racing brought up his 16th win in just 28 starts, bringing his total stakes to $213,727. Saturday nights feature just adds to his impressive resume which includes the Group 2 2YO Champagne Classic, Group 3 3YO Caduceus Club Classic and Group 2 3YO Western Gateway, but the outstanding three-year-old is still searching for that elusive Group One glory.
“It’s just unfortunate that this bloke hasn’t won a Group One, he deserves to have won one and things haven’t gone his way. We will go in the Country Derby at Bunbury on the 24th of April and then the Group One WA Derby is the following Friday at Gloucester Park.” He said.
Aiden De Campo continued his dominating form at Bunbury, with a driving and training treble on the night. In the first, the two-year-old Artistic Scribe, by Sportswriter was able to give breeder and Owner Mike Howie his first win with the filly in a mile rate of 1:58:4.
Keptain Courageous continued his consistent form for his connections when winning the seventh on the card narrowly in 2:00:0. The four-year-old gelding by local stallion Franco Jamar claimed his sixth career win bringing his total earnings to over $50,000.
De Campo rounded out the program with Testarudo claiming her maiden win in the last. The three-year-old filly by Bettors Delight USA started as the $2.20 favourite, recording her first win at her fifth race start for prominent owners.
Aiden currently sits on a 21% winning and 24% placing driving strike rate this season as well as currently sitting on top for leading club trainer at Bunbury this season on 30 points.
Other winners on the night include the Justine Prentice trained and Gary Hall Jnr driven Lets Get Messi in race two defeating the $1.90 favourite by 1.3m.The Adam Mellsop trained and Deni Roberts driven Ollie Oliver caused an upset in the third when the four-year-old got the cash at $12 odds.
The Barry Howlett trained Sugar Street NZ was too good for his rivals in race four when Chris Voak steered the $1.34 home for victory in 1:58:6.
Bunbury based Distinguished Taste NZ got the job done for trainer John Graham and driver Emily Suvaljko in race six, when leading all the way from barrier for in a mile rate of 1:58:2. The four-year-old New Zealand import entered the WA shores in late 2020 and has since gone on to win four races from just nine starts in the state.
Justin Prentice ended his night with a double, with The Stars Above giving driver Cody Wallrodt a win in race eight. The four-year-old double west bred gelding started off the 20m handicap in the 2503m stand to record his first win this season and sixth career victory.
