Hall of Fame trainer Gary Hall Snr celebrated his 71st birthday on Wednesday this week and he has high hopes that his champion pacer Chicago Bull will notch a historic 50th victory at the Gloucester Park track by winning the Group 2 $50,000 James Brennan Memorial over 2536m on Friday night.
Seven-year-old Chicago Bull will be having his first start for four weeks and he has the speed and strength to overcome a wide barrier at No. 7 and the anticipated strong challenges from Shockwave and Galactic Star.
Chicago Bull goes into the race with a winning sequence of six and a remarkable record at Gloucester Park of 67 starts for 49 wins, nine seconds, seven thirds and two fourths.
The race promises to develop into an intriguing tactical battle between the three major players, with four-year-old Shockwave the best drawn at barrier six at his first appearance for 20 weeks, and Galactic Star at barrier eight in the field of nine.
Galactic Star, prepared by champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond and to be handled by star reinsman Ryan Warwick, has won in convincing fashion at his past two outings, both over 2130m.
Warwick was guarded about the prospects of Galactic Star against Chicago Bull when he said after driving the gelding to victory in the $30,000 York Cup last Friday night that he was still not at peak fitness.
“He bottomed out a bit in the straight and that was due to his fitness,” he said. “So, to match the best in WA he has got to improve. However, there’s improvement in him, and I’m sure he is going to improve.”
Outstanding reinsman Aiden de Campo said that he was looking forward keenly to renewing his association with the Ryan Bell-trained Shockwave, who was driven by Bell when he led by a big margin and gave a superb performance to win a 2150m trial by 50 metres against moderate opposition, rating 1.56.8 at Byford on Sunday morning.
It was an outstanding effort to dash over the final three quarters in 28.6sec., 28.5sec. and 28.1sec. on a rain-affected track.
“Ryan was happy with the trial,” said de Campo. “Shockwave is quite a lazy horse when he is by himself, so to run that time out in front by himself was pretty good.
“We have the barrier draw advantage over our main rivals, so I’ll take that into consideration when I think about driving tactics. It’s not do or die on Friday night. Shockwave has a big preparation going forward, so there is no stress.”
Shockwave has not raced since April 24 when he started from the outside of the back line in a 2536m Free-For-All at Gloucester Park. He sustained a strong run from the rear to hit the front 100m from home and was beaten by a head by the fast-finishing Ocean Ridge, with Chicago Bull unwinding a powerful burst from last in the middle stages to be third.
“We had the fitness over Chicago Bull, who was having his second start after an absence of ten months,” said de Campo. “So, it will be interesting to see how Shockwave stacks up this time.”
Chicago Bull will be seeking to become only the third multiple Brennan Memorial winner in the 53-year history of the race. From the No. 1 barrier, Chicago Bull was favourite at $1.10 when he led and held on to win the Brennan Memorial by a short half-head from Soho Tribeca in November 2017. Village Kid won the event three times and Shattering Class was successful four times.
Chicago Bull’s driver Gary Hall Jnr has won the Brennan Memorial with Chicago Bull and Alzona (2011), while Hall Snr has been successful with those two pacers as well as with Waylade in 2016.
Trainer-reinsman Robbie Williams will be looking for a strong showing from As Happy As Larry, who appeals as the likely leader from the No. 1 barrier. The eight-0year-old gave a solid first-up performance last Friday night when he was seventh at the bell before running home stoutly, out four wide, to be a close fourth behind Galactic Star.
Greg and Skye Bond will be seeking to win the race for the third year in a row after Vampiro led and beat stablemate Our Jimmy Johnstone in 2018 and Our Jimmy Johnstone set the pace and won from stablemate El Jacko last year.
Ken Casellas