Exciting Mach Three gelding Jumpingjackmac continued his preparation for the $200,000 Sky Racing WA Derby next Friday week with a superb performance in the 2130m Worldwide Printing Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
From out wide at barrier seven, the $1.50 favourite settled in sixth position with polemarker Sugar Street ($7.50) setting the early pace. Gary Hall Jnr wasted little time in sending Jumpingjackmac forward with a three-wide burst and the gelding surged to the front after 650m.
He left his rivals floundering in his wake as he sprinted over the final quarters in 28.3sec. and 27.4sec. He won by just over seven lengths, rating 1.55.7. Sugar Street fought on gamely into second place, with $20 chance Be Rock Hard running on from fourth at the bell to be third.
This was Jumpingjackmac’s fifth win from just seven starts, and Hall Jnr said that he would race again at Gloucester Park next Friday night as an important final race before the 2536m Derby the following Friday night.
“He is still a baby as far as Derby horses go,” said Hall. “And that’s why I really made him run to the line tonight. You can’t go into a 2536m Derby 90 per cent fit. He needs to be 100 per cent.
“He’s got a bit of toughness and heaps of speed, so when you combine those assets, you end up with a decent horse.”
Jumpingjackmac is a firm second favourite behind Lavra Joe for the WA Derby, and the clash between these two outstanding three-year-olds in the Derby promises to be one of the highlights of the season.
Lavra Joe, trained by Ray Jones, will complete his Derby preparation when he runs in the Country Derby at Bunbury’s Donaldson Park next Saturday night. The highly regarded Mighty Ronaldo, who finished sixth behind Jumpingjackmac on Friday night, is also likely to contest the Country Derby.
by Ken Casellas