Swingband Photo by PacePix
Trainer Ryan Bell is confident Swingband isn’t far away from matching it with the best in Free-For-All ranks, despite leaving disappointed from his third placing in last week’s Bunbury Cup (2569m).
Swingband led from barrier one in last week’s $50,000 event, before being run down by Jumpingjackmac and Pinny Tiger in the concluding stages.
Bell said he had confidence going into last week’s Group 3 event, but indicated he may have found a reason why he wasn’t able to close out the race.
“He should’ve won,” Bell told The Trots WA.
“On his work going into the Bunbury Cup, I couldn’t see him getting beaten and I came away thinking ‘how did I get that wrong’.
“In saying that, we put the pull downs on him this campaign to try and teach him to put them away.
“He just hasn’t done that like he should’ve.
“There’s no way Jumpingjackmac should’ve won that easy.”
As well as being disappointed not winning the Bunbury Cup, Bell was also slightly disappointed Swingband didn’t win the Mount Eden Sprint (1684m) at Pinjarra the start prior.
The five-year-old gets another chance to score his first win at the top level in tomorrow night’s Governors Cup (2130m) at Gloucester Park.
Bell has removed the blinkers from Swingband’s gear for the feature.
The $50,000 event features one other confirmed Nullarbor starter in Lavra Joe, while fellow aspirants Minstrel, Tenzing Bromac, Jumpingjackmac, Diego, Blitzembye, Mighty Ronaldo and Tricky Miki are also set to line up.
As well as being a key Nullarbor lead up, the Governors Cup shapes as an important race for Swingband to improve his ranking of 13 in the Fremantle Cup.
The gelding will face a tricky assignment from barrier seven, with most of his key rivals drawn underneath him.
Bell said he was still happy with his star pacer ahead of tomorrow night, despite not being able to capitalise on his opportunities at his past two starts.
“In all the negatives, he’s only had 30 starts and six starts in the past 12 months,” he said.
“He’s still finishing a metre away and in the top three, so he hasn’t been disgraceful at all.
“His work yesterday was good and his heart rate was better than ever.
“We’ve been hurt by the draw, but if the speed is on and he can get into it, I’m confident he will run top five.”
Lavra Joe, off the back of a slashing fourth in the Bunbury Cup, is the $4 favourite with TABtouch for the event.
Minstrel ($4.40), Tricky Miki ($4.80), Mighty Ronaldo ($5) and Tenzing Bromac ($5.50) are the other runners in single figures, while Swingband is a $26 chance.
Tim Walker
