Ken Casellas | PACEPIX
Smart five-year-old Lusaka fared best in the random draw when he received the prized No. 1 spot in the $31,000 Taste Of WA Returning To GP Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night — and star driver Deni Roberts is sure to be planning to set the pace in an attempt to win and beat superstar millionaire pacer Magnificent Storm.
Lusaka, trained by Greg and Skye Bond, bounced back to his best form last Friday week when he gave a superb frontrunning exhibition to win a 2130m Free-For-All at a 1.55 rate.
“He loved it in front,” said Roberts. “And regarding our plan, I’ll have to speak to Greg, but I’d say Lusaka will be leading. This will be the biggest test for him, and we will probably find how good he is.
“It would be nice to beat Magnificent Storm; we’ve done it a couple of times.” However, Roberts admitted Friday night’s race would be far from a walk in the park for Lusaka, saying: “Magnificent Storm’s two runs since resuming from a spell have been really good. He’s had two pretty solid runs and I expect to see an even better version of him on Friday.”
Roberts drove Magnificent Storm for the first time when the outstanding eight-year-old resumed after a spell in a 2130m event at Gloucester Park on July 18 when he began from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line and did plenty of work in the breeze before finishing third behind the frontrunning Heavenly Gipsy, who rated a smart 1.54.7.
A fortnight later, last Friday night, Magnificent Storm was driven by Aiden De Campo, again from the No. 9 barrier, when he raced wide early and then in the breeze before fighting on determinedly to finish second to the pacemaker Mighty Ronaldo, who rated 1.52.6 over 1730m.
De Campo admitted he felt sure that Lusaka was likely to be able to set the pace. “Obviously, Lusaka will be hard to beat from barrier one,” he said. “It will be a really good race.
“I think Magnificent Storm (trained by Ray Williams) will keep getting better, and I expect his best races are ahead of him. He will gain a fair bit from last week and he will be a lot better horse this week.”
Roberts is also looking for strong performances from Thenu Came Along (race one), Vegas Strip (race two), Crunchnsip (race five), Captainshavtime (race seven), Pocket The Change (race eight) and Cordero (race nine).
“I wasn’t happy with Thenu Came Along’s first-up run (when he began out wide, raced at the rear and finished last behind Copy Cat Queen),” said Roberts. “But we have found a few things behind the scenes, and I expect him to go a lot better.
“It was a promising run by Vegas Strip (when third behind Lusaka), and this is not as strong a field for him. He has very good gate speed, so we have that option with him (from barrier eight).
“Pocket The Change has drawn barrier one again, and I don’t think the 2536m trip last start (when a wilting sixth behind Insta Gator) suited her. She is definitely better over shorter distances, and I might give her another go in front over the 2130m this week.”