Lightly-raced seven-year-old Boom Time, the hot $1.20 favourite, completed a treble for eight-time WA premiership trainer Ross Olivieri when he was untroubled to set the pace and beat the $5 second fancy Mirragon by two lengths in the 2130m Etch Coatings Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The win also gave ace reinsman Chris Voak a driving double, after he had won earlier in the night with the Olivieri-trained Taking The Miki. Olivieri’s other winner was Stroke Of Luck in the 2130m TABtouch Free-For-All.
Boom Time’s easy win came after a slow lead time of 38.9sec. and modest opening quarters of 31.4sec. and 30.6sec. Boom Time then dashed over the final 400m sections in 29sec. and 27.1sec. Mirragon trailed Boom Time throughout and did not get clear until late, when he flashed home, out wide.
Boom Time has had only 35 starts for 11 wins, nine placings and $91,957 in stakes. He won twice from five starts in New Zealand, his seven Victorian starts produced three wins, and he has raced 23 times for Olivieri in WA for six wins and six placings.
He is owned by Merv Butterworth’s Butterworth Racing Syndicate, which also races eight-year-old Stroke Of Luck, who was a $4.90 chance, with Chris Lewis in the sulky, when he set the pace and fought on grandly to beat the $2.80 favourite Vultan Tin in the Free-For-All, rating 1.56.
Vultan Tin started from the outside in the field of seven and raced three wide early before working in the breeze and fighting on in typical dogged fashion. The Butterworth syndicate’s second-string runner Im Full Of Excuses ($9.50) raced in sixth position in the one-wide line before finishing powerfully, out four wide, to be third, ahead of last-start winner Galactic Star, who had enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and one-back.
Stroke Of Luck, a gelding by Major In Art, has earned $248,406 from 17 wins and 22 placings from 78 starts. He was on offer for sale to American buyers for $30,000 about six weeks ago. But he was overlooked by prospective purchasers who said the gelding was too old.
Since then, Stroke Of Luck has had five starts in Free-For-All company for two wins, two seconds and a seventh placing for stakes of $38,846.
by Ken Casellas