Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Capel horseman Aiden De Campo is enjoying a purple patch in the sulky, and he maintained his outstanding form by driving the final three winners on the ten-event program at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
He brought up his hat-trick with a superb drive to get the $7.60 chance Twobob Cracker home a strong winner in the 2130m Trotsynd Going For Gold Pace. This followed his wins with Rascal, a $14.30 chance in the Trotsynd Register Young Interest Pace, and Whos The Dad ($1.30 favourite) in the Palette Pace.
These successes for three different trainers took De Campo’s tally for the season to 96 winners.
Twobob Cracker, a standing-start specialist whose previous nine wins were in stands, was driven with great panache in a 2130m mobile event.
Twobob Cracker settled down in fifth position on the pegs, with Awaitinginstructions ($21) setting the pace from $8.50 chance Withoutthetuh, who won the start from out wide at barrier seven but was unable to get to the front.
After a modest lead time of 37.3sec. the opening 400m section was run in a dawdling 32.1sec. which prompted De Campo to urge Twobobcracker forward with a three-wide burst to move to the breeze.
Then Twobob Cracker was able to gain the ideal sit in the one-out, one-back position after the $3.50 favourite Classic Choice had taken up the position outside the pacemaker.
Twobob Cracker was sandwiched in between two runners in the back straight the final time before De Campo was able to ease the six-year-old into the clear 450m from homer. Twobob Cracker then went four wide on the home turn and he burst to the front 120m from the post before winning by almost a length from the fast-finishing Pierre Whitby.
Twobob Cracker’s owner-trainer Glenn Elliott was working at Alcoa, and the pacer was in the care of Elliott’s partner Grace Inwood, who said: “He’s an honest horse who always tries hard. This race looked suitable for him.”
That certainly proved to be correct, with Twobob Cracker appreciating a considerable drop in class after being unplaced in stands at his three previous starts when competing against pacers of the quality of Carana, Steel The Show and Otis.
Twobob Cracker is by Art Major and is the first foal out of Where Dreams Grow, who raced 62 times for 12 wins, 12 seconds, two thirds and $103,800. He was passed in at the 2019 Perth APG yearling sale before Elliott bought him for $22,500 the day after the sale.
Whos The Dad, trained by Ryan Bell, was the all the rage in his 2130m event in which he won the start from barrier two and coasted through the lead time in a slow 38sec. and the opening quarters in 31.6sec. and 29.9sec. before final 400m sections of 28.7sec. and 27.9sec. gave his rivals little hope. He won by 4m from the $6.50 equal second fancy Soho Firestone, rating 1.57.9.
Whos The Dad, a Betting Line gelding, has been a handy performer who has earned $158,527 from 12 wins and 21 placings from 73 starts.
“Once we held up early, I was confident of winning,” said De Campo. “Our main danger (Soho Firestone) was on our back, so we were able to keep him in a pocket until late.”
Rascal, trained by Katja Warwick, faced a tough assignment from the outside barrier in the field of eight. But De Campo was able to overcome this disadvantage by getting Rascal to the front after 220m.
“I didn’t expect to get to the front,” admitted De Campo. “Rascal was very keen up to the gate, and I thought I’d let him roll for the first hundred. And when the favourite Solesseo Matuca ($1.09 from barrier one) got crossed (by Acuto) I thought I’d stamp our authority and see how we’d go.”
Rascal, who has always relished a frontrunning role, enjoyed his time as pacemaker and he dashed over the final three 400m sections in 28.9sec., 28.2sec. and 28.8sec. on his way to winning by three lengths from $13 chance State Of Heaven, rating 1.55.9. Solesseo Matuca raced without cover and wilted to finish fourth.
The victory took Rascal’s record to 59 starts for 16 wins, 12 placings and $158,689 in prizemoney.