Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
The Group 3 Garrard’s Horse And Hound Easter Cup remains Western Australia’s premier standing-start feature event, and champion trainer Gary Hall Snr is poised to buck the odds by landing the quinella with four-year-olds Skylou and Im The Black Flash, the only runners in the 2503m race at Gloucester Park tomorrow night who have not contested a stand.
And the brilliant Skylou should become only the third WA Derby winner to succeed in an Easter Cup which has been run 70 times.
The only Derby winners who have gone on to win the Easter Cup have been Beau Don and Satanas. Beau Don won the Derby in 1952 and the Easter Cup three years later, while Satanas won the Derby in 1963 before winning the 1965 Easter Cup.
Star reinsman Gary Hall Jnr, who has won the Easter Cup with The Falcon Strike (2003), Patches (who dead-heated for first with OK Windermere in 2006), Uppy Son (2012), Rebel Scooter (2013) and Znana (2016), is confident that Skylou will be successful on Friday night when he starts from the No. 3 barrier on the front line.
Skylou and Im the Black Flash will be racing first-up after a spell, after Skylou won the 2536m WA Derby on November 3 when he defeated Never Ending and Im The Black Flash.
The stablemates qualified to contest a standing-start event when they appeared in a 2116m standing-start trial at Pinjarra three Wednesdays ago. Each pacer began smoothly in the field of five and performed impressively, with Skylou finishing second to seasoned open-class pacer Hampton Banner, and Im The Black Flash back in third place when the final 400m sections were run in 28.7sec. and 27.7sec.
“Skylou is a really good horse, and his trial was good,” said Hall Jnr. “He has come back better, and if he gets away, we will be pressing forward. Lucca (who will start off the 20m mark) and Ardens Horizon (the sole backmarker off 30m) are flying. But Skylou should make things very tough for them.”
Skylou has won at six of his eight starts, while Im The Black Flash, to be driven by Stuart McDonald, has raced 18 time for eight wins. Im The Black Flash will begin from barrier four, alongside Skylou.
Henley Brook trainer-reinsman Robbie Williams has high hopes of winning the Easter Cup for the second time. He will handle five-year-old Brickies Dream from the outside of the front line at the gelding’s second appearance after a let-up, following an easy win in a mobile event at Northam three Saturdays ago.
“Brickies Dream raced in two stands in New Zealand, and he has had four runs in stands for me, for a win and a third at Pinjarra and a win and a third at Northam,” said Williams.
“He is a good stand horse and I’d like to fly him out and try to run to the top. His run at Northam was in a lot weaker company when he won first-up after a little break. He is now ready to go. Skylou, Im The Black Flash, Lucca and Ardens Horizon are the ones to beat, and I think, ability-wise, he’s right up there with them.”
Williams has fond memories of the 2902m Easter Cup in 2020 when he prepared and drove eight-year-old As Happy As Larry to victory as a $10.40 chance, who was the sole backmarker off 50 metres. As Happy As Larry was sixth at the 400m before storming home to win by more than a length from frontmarker Where Ya Bin.
A year earlier As Happy As Larry started off 30m and finished second, a short half-head behind Mighty Conqueror. He was driven by Chris Lewis, who replaced Williams who had been injured in a nasty race accident ten days earlier.
Byford trainer Callan Suvaljko has two runners in Friday night’s Cup, the 30m solitary backmarker Ardens Horizon and veteran pacer Skippys Delight, who will start from barrier five on the front line.
“Ardens Horizon is wonderfully consistent,” said Suvaljko, who will drive the five-year-old, who worked hard in the breeze when a fighting second to Lucca in a 2503m stand last Friday night.
Suvaljko has engaged Aiden De Campo to handle Skippys Delight, with De Campo saying: “He gets out really good and hopefully he can get to an early lead, and from there we should be able to take a sit.”
Shannon Suvaljko had the option of driving Skippys Delight or the Matt Scott-trained Feeling Aces. He chose Feeling Aces, whose most recent appearance in a stand was three starts ago when he ran home strongly to finish third behind Lucca and Fly To Fame.