Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Star pacer Mister Smartee has trained on well since his second placing to Minstrel in the WA Pacing Cup last Friday week, and his driver Gary Hall Jnr is confident he will return to the winning list by outpacing his rivals in the $125,000 North Coast Fibreglass Four-Year-Old Classic at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Mister Smartee, trained by Gary Hall Snr, will begin from the No. 4 barrier, with Hall Jnr saying: “He should be hard to beat even if he has to race in the breeze. His work has been good.”
Mister Smartee may have to race without cover, with trainer-reinsman Aiden De Campo planning to make every post a winner by setting the pace with the highly promising Sorridere, whose 35 starts have produced 13 wins, nine seconds and four thirds.
Sorridere, who will start from the No. 3 barrier, gave a splendid performance when a half-head second to the pacemaker OK Boomer in the group 3 Four-Year-Old Championship last Friday week. He raced without cover early and then enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and one-back, before finishing with great determination.
Sorridere had won in fine style at his three previous appearances, including the Higgins Memorial and the Pinjarra Four-Year-Old Classic.
“Apart from Mister Smartee, Sorridere has had the measure of all of the other runners in Friday’s race,” said De Campo. “And that’s because he hasn’t met Mister Smartee this time in. He has had all the other four-year-olds covered. He was super last start when he just missed.
“I’d love to lead with Sorridere and give Mister Smartee something to chase. If he sits outside of Sorridere and beats him, so be it.”
Trainer-reinsman Chris Voak said he would be keen to find a good position with Rock Artist, who will start from barrier two. “He went very well when he flooded home to finish fifth behind OK Boomer two weeks ago,” he said.