Ace harness racing reinsman Clinton Hall has driven talented four-year-old Mynameskenny at his past seven starts for seven wins, but he has opted to drive eight-year-old Glenlochar in the $25,000 Colin Hammersley Memorial Chandon final at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
What swayed him was the fact that Glenlochar drew the prized No. 1 barrier and that Mynameskenny drew the outside barrier (three) on the back line in the 2130m event.
Banjup trainer Annie Belton was delighted that Hall chose Glenlochar ahead of Mynameskenny and declared that Glenlochar would take plenty of beating.
“The plan is to lead, definitely,” she said. “Glenlochar has good gate speed and he worked well in a Byford trial on Sunday morning when he worked his way to the front in the first lap for Nathan Turvey and went on to win, unextended without the ear plugs being released.”
Glenlochar competed against extremely moderate opposition in the trial in which he rated 1.58 over the 2150m trip, with final quarters in 28.8sec. and 28.2sec. He defeated Skewsy Newsy by seven and a half lengths.
It was only by chance that Belton is training the New Zealand-bred Glenlochar for Horsham owner Shannon Hoffmann, the owner of interdominion championship runner Easy On The Eye in WA late last year.
“We met him at the Inters in Perth last November and became good friends,” Belton explained. “He considered that Perth racing would suit Glenlochar and he also sent me Change Gear and Jivin Cullen.”
Hall brought up his seventh successive victory with Mynameskenny last Friday night when the horse trailed the pacemaker Ima Connoisseur before getting off the pegs 250m from home and finishing fast to beat that pacer at a 1.56.2 rate over 2130m, with a final quarter of 27.8sec.
That took Hall’s record behind Mynameskenny to 15 wins from 24 drives. Glenlochar has raced 15 times in WA for three wins and seven placings. Hall has driven the gelding six times for two wins, two seconds, one third and one fourth.
Hall’s younger brother Gary will drive American Boy in preference to Ricimer in Friday night’s race. Ricimer has set the pace and won at each of his past four starts, all at Gloucester Park. Hall jun. was in the sulky for three of those wins, including an all-the-way success over American Boy last Friday night.
“I’ll drive American Boy because Ricimer cannot lead from barrier five this week,” Hall said. “In saying that I must admit that American Boy faces a tough task and is likely to struggle from barrier eight.”
Ken Casellas