Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Advancing years is not affecting the enthusiasm or the speed of veteran New Zealand-bred pacer Diego, who gave a strong indication that he will be a leading contender in the $450,000 WA Pacing Cup on November 8 when he scored a powerful victory in the $31,000 Cowden Insurance Solutions Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Eight-year-old Diego, winner of the WA Pacing Cup in January 2023, was driven superbly by Maddison Brown, who has a wonderful affinity with the gelding, having handled him in 46 races for 13 wins, six seconds and seven thirds.
Diego, trained by Gary Hall Snr, was a $3.50 chance from the No. 4 barrier who settled down in third place behind stablemate and $2.20 favourite Wildwest and the polemarker Galactic Star ($12).
Wildwest began well from barrier two but was held out by Galactic Star, with a very fast lead time of 35sec. Wildwest worked hard to get to the front after 400m, and soon after that Brown made a winning move by dashing Diego forward to assume control with 1300m to travel.
Diego then successfully repelled a challenge from $3.70 third favourite Steel The Show, with the middle quarters whizzing by in 27.6sec. and 28sec. Wildwest ran home determinedly to finish second, almost a length behind, with Steel The Show a fighting third. The speed of the race affected all runners, and the final 400m was covered in a modest 29.2sec., with Diego recording a smart 1.54.3 rate over the 2130m journey.
Brown explained that the early speed and the fact that Wildwest had been involved in the early conflict with Galactic Star prompted her decision to charge to the front with Diego. “I didn’t do a lot off the gate, and I just put my foot down,” she said. “And in the end, they didn’t get as close as I thought they would.”
Diego has been an outstanding campaigner, who has earned $877,383 from 26 wins and 23 placings from 97 starts. He came to Western Australia after racing 17 times in New Zealand for three wins, five placings and $26,750.