Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
“He has never been beaten when leading in his races in WA,” said trainer Michael Young after Gary Hall Jnr had driven the New Zealand-bred five-year-old to an easy all-the-way victory in the 2130m The Trots WA Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Moonlite Drive’s 21 starts in WA have resulted in seven wins and nine placings. He has set the pace and won in six of those wins which have boosted his career record for owner Shane Kirwan to 56 starts for 12 wins, 18 placings and $128,714.
Moonlite Drive, the $2.60 favourite, easily won the start before dawdling through the lead time in 40.6sec. and ambling through the opening quarters in 33.3sec. and 31.6sec. before he sprinted over the final 400m sections in 28.3sec. and 27.2sec. to win in a slow rate of 2.1.7.
He beat $6 chance Ima Rockabilly Rebel by just under two lengths, with Rascal ($11) finishing a nose farther back in third place.
“He is still pretty lowly assessed, and he can still win a fair few more races until he gets to Free-For-All company,” said Young.