Trainer Andrew De Campo is confident he has his stable well poised for success during the upcoming summer feature races, following a treble at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Handsandwheels, American Delight and Alta Engen all scored impressive wins for De Campo and his reinsman son Aiden.
Handsandwheels, the 2017 WA Derby winner, continued his outstanding form in Friday night’s Free-For-All, where he scored a commanding 4m win.
The five-year-old made it three wins on the bounce in the 2130m event, after he had the perfect run behind the leaders throughout.
De Campo said he had been pleasantly surprised at how Handsandwheels had elevated himself to being among the best pacers in the state.
“He’s just gone to another level this time in,” he told TABradio.
“He did win a WA Derby so good horses do win good races.
“We’ve looked after him and he’s doing the right thing by us now.
“He’s 100 per cent sound and he’s racing well.”
The son of Mach Three will now target the Fremantle and WA Pacing Cups early in the New Year.
De Campo said Handsandwheels had also adapted to racing in different positions during the run.
“We’ve been lucky the last couple of runs we’ve had the right run in the race, but we’ve still run the time,” he said.
“To his credit, early on he was a sit and kick horse or a leader.
“Now Aiden can drive him confidently by putting him in the breeze or going forward and making his own luck a little bit.
“It makes it a little bit easier.”
Alta Engen made a terrific debut in the two-year-old event of the evening, where he led all the way from barrier one.
The gelding ran home in a tidy 57.1 and De Campo said there was a lot to like about his long term prospects.
“He was probably ready to start four months ago,” he said.
“He was a nice big horse, so we decided to give him another spell.
“I probably rushed to get him to that last Friday.
“I was tossing up whether to go to Perth or Bunbury (on Saturday).
“In Perth he had to draw barrier one, so we went there and he won very well.”
De Campo said he would look to target three-year-old American Delight towards the Group 1 Mares Classic later in the year, after she recorded her sixth win from 12 starts on Friday.
Delightful Reaction completed a De Campo stable quinella in the three-year-old event.
Bettor Be Oscar completed an outstanding weekend for the De Campo’s when he scored a strong win over 2100m at Bunbury on Saturday night.
Tim Walker