Ken Casellas | Photo: Gloucester Park Harness Racing
Talented four-year-old Jumpingjackmac has drawn the prized No. 1 barrier in the $30,000 Dot Williams Free-For-All at Gloucester Park on Friday night, and Hall Of Fame trainer Gary Hall Snr is setting the gelding the task of making the pace in a bid to beat rising superstar Magnificent Storm.
Hall pointed out that Jumpingjackmac had set the pace and won at the two previous times he had begun from the No. 1 barrier.
It was six starts ago (on August 5) that Jumpingjackmac had begun from the inside barrier and had set a dawdling pace (40.2sec. lead time followed by quarters of 32.2sec. and 30.3sec.) before dashing over the final 400m sections in 28.7sec. and 27.4sec. to win by a length at a 2min. rate over 2130m from Chicago Bull.
Three starts before that (on July 8) Jumpingjackmac begun from barrier one and he set a fast pace to win at a 1.55.2 rate over 2130m, holding on to beat Chicago Bull by a head, with Magnificent Storm a half-length away in third place.
“The plan will be to lead on Friday night, and I think he can beat Magnificent Storm,” said Hall.
Star reinsman Gary Hall Jnr agrees wholeheartedly with his father, saying: “We will be trying to lead and hold it. Jumpingjackmac is going really well, as good as he can.”
Magnificent Storm resumed after an 11-week absence last Friday night when Aldo Cortopassi drove the Ray Williams-trained five-year-old to a brilliant all-the-way victory over Gambit and Lavra Joe in the Group 2 Mount Eden Sprint, rating 1.53.2 over 1730m. Jumpingjackmac raced without cover early and then in the one-out, one-back position before finishing in fourth place.
“We’ve gone from chocolates to boiled lollies this week,” said Cortopassi. “He was super and really switched on, strong and sharp. And that was good for him, first-up, when normally he is pretty unconscious first-up. He was just jogging through the line.
“Barrier nine is always hard at Gloucester Park, especially against a horse of the calibre of Jumpingjackmac from barrier one. It is never easy from nine, but he has overcome bad draws. He is strong, fast and versatile, so we’ve got options.
“Ill talk to Robbie (managing part-owner Rob Tomlinson) and Ray (trainer Ray Williams) and work out a plan of attack. It’s not the end of the world if Magnificent Storm doesn’t win. But I hate getting beaten.”
Tomlinson will also be represented by To Fast To Serious, who will be driven by trainer Dylan Egerton-Green from barrier five. The six-year-old, who will be having his first start for 14 weeks, gave a sample of his ability when he finished second to Jumpingjackmac two starts ago (on July 1) when Chicago Bull finished in third place.
Apart from Jumpingjackmac, Hall Snr will be represented by Gambit (Stuart McDonald), Diego (Maddison Brown) and Will I Rocknroll (Mitch Miller). Gambit will start from the inside of the back line and should fight out the finish after four seconds from his past five starts (two behind Lavra Joe and one each behind Plutonium and Magnificent Storm).