Ken Casellas | Photo: Gloucester Park Harness Racing
All eyes will be on recent New Zealand import Penny Black when she makes her metropolitan debut in the Smooth FM Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night for trainer Michael Young and reinsman Shannon Suvaljko.
Penny Black, a four-year-old Sweet Lou mare, has bright prospects of extending her winning sequence to six when she begins from the No. 2 barrier on the back line.
She has not been extended in winning over 2185m at her first four starts in Australia, all at Pinjarra, after winning at her final run in New Zealand, racing in the breeze for the first 300m and then setting the pace and beating Leo Lincoln by three quarters of a length over 2200m at Alexandra Park on December 8 last year.
Penny Black is comparatively inexperienced and has had only ten starts. However, Young is confident she will prove hard to beat on Friday night.
“She is a really nice horse and I think she will go pretty close,” he said. “Hopefully she will go on to bigger and better things later in the year, and I’m looking for a nice start to her metro racing.
“She is the type of horse who looks like going to the line with petrol left in the tank. Those who have driven her have thought she has won with another quarter left in her. I don’t expect her to have any issues racing against more experienced and better performed mares.”
However, Serpentine trainer-reinsman Dylan Egerton-Green considers that Penny Black will not have everything going her way on Friday night. He will drive WA-bred five-year-old Dame Valour from the prized No. 1 barrier.
“She has the gun draw, and hopefully we can make every post a winner,” said Egerton-Green. “Her fourth behind Soho Seraphine last Friday week was good, and four days earlier she ran a good mile rate (1.54.7 over 1684m at Pinjarra) when she won after racing three deep.”
At her latest appearance Dame Valour started out wide at barrier eight and settled down in eleventh position before Egerton-Green dashed her forward after 550m to race in the breeze outside Soho Seraphine.
“Dame Valour looks my best drive on the night,” said Egerton-Green, who has sound prospects with several other drives, including Bellezza Nera (race one), Rockmyster (race four), Otis (race six) and Captain Stirling (race nine).
Otis, an all-the-way winner in a 2130m mobile event at his latest appearance 19 weeks ago, will start from the 20m mark in the Nova’s Fresh Country Handicap, and although he is not a reliable standing-start performer he makes good appeal. He has been placed at three of his past four stands.
Otis impressed with his easy victory in a three-horse mobile trial over 2185m at Pinjarra three Wednesdays ago. He raced in third place in the Indian file trial and finished strongly along the sprint lane to take the lead 130m from the post and win by eight lengths from the pacemaker Make It Happen, rating 1.55.5, with final quarters of 29sec., 28.6sec., 28.6se. and 29.8sec.
Stablemates Lucapelo and Ideal Tomado loom as two of the most serious rivals for Otis, with trainer Michael Young saying he expected strong efforts from both pacers.
Lucapelo will be driven by Maddison Brown from barrier four on the front line, and Deni Roberts will handle Ideal Tomado from the inside of the 10m line.
“Lucapelo won last start (off 30m and beating Barbados by almost three lengths) at Narrogin last Saturday night, and at his previous start (at Gloucester Park) he kicked clear down the back and got beaten by Street Hawk in a stand,” said Young.
“Ideal Tomado, a last-start second to Coney Island Lou, is going as good as I’ve ever had him. But at his only run in a stand (in his 57-start career) he galloped hopelessly (in the Marathon Handicap in August last year). If he steps, he will be around the money.”
The sole backmarker off 30m in Friday night’s race is the Marathon Handicap winner Youre So Fine, the class runner of the field who will be driven by Stuart McDonald and is sure to prove hard to beat.