Gary Hall Jnr has produced another masterful display of driving at Gloucester Park tonight, chalking up his eighth win in the Group 1 WA Pacing Cup (2936m) with the Justin Prentice-trained Rocknroll Lincoln.
Three months ago it looked as if Hall Jnr would struggle to add to his seven Pacing Cup wins when his father’s superstar pacer Chicago Bull injured himself in New Zealand.
But on the state’s biggest Harness Racing stage, Hall Jnr showed his class with the horse that filled the breach left by Chicago Bull.
There was some doubt as to whether Rocknroll Lincoln would be able to find the lead from barrier two, but that doubt was quickly dispelled within the first 100m of the race, as the five-year-old crossed Maczaffair with ease.
Fremantle Cup winner My Field Marshal elected to ease back in the early stages and eventually found himself only slightly better than midfield on the back of Galactic Star.
Vampiro was forced to settle outside the leader, which gave Galactic Star, the best chance of Greg and Skye Bond’s six runners, the perfect trail into the race.
Despite the high quality of horses behind him, Rocknroll Lincoln fought on strongly to the line and rated 1.56.8 in the 1.3m victory.
El Jacko ran on well for second, while Maczaffair held on for third.
Hall Jnr said he had some small concerns heading into the race, but was full of praise for Prentice’s training performance.
“I was confident and hopeful, but I think I was more hopeful than I was confident,” he said.
“The horse was in such good order.
“He warmed up really well and he was nice and relaxed.
“Hats off to Justin because in his last two starts he hadn’t really got a good crack at them.
“For him to turn him out again tonight and lead and run that trip, it was a pretty special effort.”
Hall Jnr returned later in the evening to drive a further two winners in You Gotta Have Faith and Caviar Star.
You can hear from the beaten drivers from the WA Pacing Cup below.
Review all of the action of TABtouch-WA Pacing Cup night here.
Tim Walker