Ravenswood trainer Corey Peterson will be looking for a strong performance from noted frontrunner Ekara Navajo, who has bright prospects from the No. 3 barrier in the $31,000 The Coulson Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Peterson has set the WA-bred five-year-old the task of winning at her first appearance for seven and a half weeks. She will be driven by Gary Hall jnr, who is sure to be anxious to use the mare’s good gate speed to advantage.
Ekara Navajo has led and won three times at Bunbury’s Donaldson Park, and she scored all-the-way wins at Gloucester Park in August and September this year.
Peterson has freshened up Ekara Navajo since she began from the second line and raced at the rear and finished last in a field of eleven over 2185m at Pinjarra on November 3.
Hall has opted to handle Ekara Navajo in preference to the Nathan Turvey-trained Pushbutton Rock, a four-year-old mare he drove to an all-the-way victory at a 1.57 rate over 2130m last Friday night. Pushbutton Rock will be driven by Abbey Vidovich, with the mare needing some luck after starting from the awkward barrier at No. 7.
Trainer Aiden de Campo has two runners --- Champagne Everyone and Dame Valour, and he has opted to drive Dame Valour, who faces a stern test from the outside barrier (No. 9), while Trent Wheeler has been engaged to handle six-year-old Champagne Everyone from barrier six.
Champagne Everyone, driven by de Campo, impressed last Friday night at her first appearance for six months when she set the pace from barrier five and dashed over the final 800m in 56.7sec. and won by a length and a half from Chaco Eagle, who trailed her throughout.
