Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Astute trainer Justin Prentice has prepared three stable stars, Mighty Ronaldo, Tricky Miki and Jawsoflincoln, for an all-out assault on the $50,000 Lord Mayor’s Cup over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
These three pacers will be racing first-up, and Prentice is confident they will perform strongly.
He is following his successful formula when he produced the same three horses for the Lord Mayor’s Cup 12 months ago.
Tricky Miki, racing first-up for nine weeks, won the Cup, with Mighty Ronaldo, having his first outing for 14 weeks, finishing fourth, and Jawsoflincoln, having his fourth start in WA, leading into the Cup after an absence of seven month, was fifth.
On Friday night Mighty Ronaldo will be reappearing after a 15-week absence, and Tricky Miki and Jawsoflincoln will be racing for the first time for ten weeks.
Prentice will drive Mighty Ronaldo from the No. 3 barrier, and he has engaged Trent Wheeler for Tricky Miki from the No. 2 barrier on the back line, and Kyle Symington for Jawsoflincoln from the outside of the front line.
Prentice, who also won the 2011 Lord Mayor’s Cup when he drove the Tony Svilicich-trained Mysta Magical Mach to victory over Can Return Fire, said that Mighty Ronaldo went for a spell after finishing third behind Minstrel and Mister Smartee in the WA Pacing Cup on November 8 last year, and that Jawsoflincoln and Tricky Miki went to the paddock after competing against each other over 2526m on December 13 when Tricky Miki led from barrier one and won from Jumpingjackmac, and Jawsoflincoln ran on well into fourth place.
“Mighty Ronaldo had a month off and Tricky Miki and Jawsoflincoln had a couple of weeks off,” said Prentice. “Mighty Ronaldo is working really well, and so, too, is Jawsoflincoln who has a terrible draw. But eleven is a handy draw for Tricky Miki.
“Mighty Ronaldo and Tricky Miki should be close enough on the speed before running home.”
The conditions of the group 3 Lord Mayor’s Cup this year stipulated that mares would draw inside the male pacers — and this advantage has resulted in Water Lou (barrier one) and Steno (barrier two) coming into the race with excellent winning prospects.
Four-year-old Water Lou will be driven by Shannon Suvaljko for Henley Brook trainer Mike Reed, who has prepared the winner of the Lord Mayor’s Cup (which was first run in 1966) five times — scoring with Manageable (1988), Skippers Trick (2000), Rich And Spoilt (2001), Tricky Vic (2002) and Kiwi Legend (2017).
Water Lou boasts a superb record of 29 starts for 21 wins, three placings and $427,557. She resumed racing last Friday week after a four-month absence when she began out wide from barrier seven, was restrained to the rear and was eighth and last on the home bend storming home, out five wide, to finish an eye-catching third behind the pacemaker Steno, who coasted to a four-length victory over Peaceful.
“Water Lou has won most of her races when leading,” said Suvaljko. “She has also won when racing with a sit and from the breeze. She is very versatile.
“She is good enough to lead and win, and good enough to sit and win. Water Lou will handle competing against seasoned Free-For-All performers as good as gold. I will wait until Mike returns from New Zealand to discuss tactics.”
Trainer-driver Jocelyn Young also said that six-year-old Steno was capable of beating her Free-For-All rivals, saying: “It shouldn’t be a problem. It’s not the strongest Free-For-All, and Steno gets her chance to run a good race.”
Steno possesses sparkling gate speed and Young is certain to make a bold bid for the early lead and then dictate terms in front. Steno is in top form with all-the-way victories at her first two outings in her current campaign. She has amassed $541,203 from 23 wins and 13 placings from 48 starts.
Steno and Water Lou will have to buck the odds to win the Cup, with the only mares to have been successful in the race being Windy Jean in 1978 and Another One For Me in 2012.