All-conquering trainers Greg and Skye Bond have made a flying start to the 2016-17 season and the stable looks set for further successes with 12 talented runners engaged at the ten-event harness racing program at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The Bonds will be strongly favoured to dominate the $23,000 Slater-Gartrell Sports Pace in which their three runners, Phoenix Warrior, Ima Connoisseur and Delightful Offer, are in splendid form and are the only last-start winners in the field of 12.
Six-year-old Phoenix Warrior is the best credentialled of the trio, with earnings of $194,550 from 20 wins and 21 placings from 62 starts. But he is the worst drawn at No. 9, the outside of the front line in the 2130m event.
Ima Connoisseur (17 wins, 17 placings and $186,216 in prizemoney) and Delightful Offer (14 wins, six placings and $163,346) are five-year-olds by Bettors Delight who are racing with commendable spirit. Ima Connoisseur, one of the State’s most improved pacers, is favourably drawn at barrier No. 3 on the back line in the 2130m event, while Delightful Offer will start out wide at No. 7 on the front line.
The Bonds have raced away to an early lead in the Statewide trainers’ premiership, with 30 winners in the first 35 days of the season. They lead from Gary Hall sen. (14 wins) and Ross Olivieri and Nathan Turvey (nine). Ryan Warwick, the stable’s No. 1 driver, has landed 23 winners and leads the drivers’ premiership table from Michael Grantham (16), Gary Hall jun. (15) and Turvey (14).
Phoenix Warrior notched his fifth win from his past 13 starts when he raced in sixth position before sustaining a powerful last-lap burst to win narrowly from the pacemaker Our Jericho over 2550m in Kalgoorlie last Friday week. He sat behind the pacemaker Bettors Fire when a sound third to that pacer over 2130m at Gloucester Park at his previous outing and a week before that he gave a grand performance to race three wide for much of the way and win from El Machine and Change Gear over 2130m
Ima Connoisseur notched his fourth win in a row when he began speedily from barrier seven, led after 175m and went on to win by more than a length from fast-finishing stablemate Burning and Lisharry at a 1.54.8 rate over 2130m at Gloucester Park last Friday night.
He revealed abundant stamina at his two previous starts when he finished strongly after racing without cover all the way.
Delightful Offer gave a sample of his class at Gloucester Park last Friday week when he started from the outside barrier and settled at the rear before starting a three-wide run at the bell which carried him to victory over the pacemaker Commander Chapel.
The Bond stable also holds a very strong hand in the $21,000 Hi Temp Services Pace over 2130m on Friday night, with four runners, Bungalow Bill, Burning, Ima Tragedy and Offtocullect.
Bungalow Bill, to be driven by Lauren Jones, has a 44 per cent winning record and looks the pick of the quartet from barrier three on the front line. Bungalow Bill worked hard in the breeze before finishing determinedly to score a narrow in over the pacemaking Ima Tragedy at a 1.55 rate over 1730m last Friday night. The final sections were covered in 27.8sec. and 28sec.
Ken Casellas