Nathans Courage, beaten into second place by Franco Rayner in a qualifying heat of The West Australian Nights of Thunder, can turn the tables on his harness racing arch rival in the $50,000 final over 1730m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
That’s the verdict reached by Michael Grantham, whose confidence was boosted after Nathans Courage, trained by Michael Brennan, drew barrier No. 4 and Franco Rayner drew out wide at No. 8.
“Obviously, it’s great to draw inside Franco Rayner,” Grantham said. “I’m sure Browny (trainer Colin Brown) will tell Maddison (his daughter) to go forward as hard as they can. It looks a race in two if I get the top and Franco Rayner sits outside of me. If that’s the case I don’t think Franco Rayner can beat me. But it promises to be a great race.
“I think that Nathans Courage, who has blistering speed, can cross to the front and then go all the way. Nathans Courage has matured a lot in this preparation and has a lot of bottom to him now. However, Franco Rayner also has a lot of bottom, too.”
Colin Brown said that his daughter would make us of Franco Rayner’s brilliant early speed from his wide draw. “Maddison knows the horse well and, obviously, you can’t go back.
“It’s a huge advantage to lead at Gloucester Park, but Franco Rayner doesn’t have to lead to be in the thick of it. I’m not saying that we’re going to win it from the breeze, but Franco Rayner has done super since his win in a heat.
“All my horses are down at the beach most days now, unless there’s a howling southerly. All the horses love the beach and Franco Rayner struts around like a bantam rooster, puffing his chest out and telling everybody how good he is.”
Maddison Brown certainly has built up a great rapport with Franco Rayner. She has driven him ten times for six wins. The New Zealand-bred four-year-old has already earned $137,481 from 13 wins and nine placings from 37 starts.
Ace reinsman Gary Hall jun. does not agree that the Nights of Thunder will be a two-horse affair and he gives five-year-old American Boy an excellent winning chance, particularly after drawing the prized No. 1 barrier over the sprint journey.
American Boy, trained by Gary Hall sen., has a wonderful 68 per cent winning record, with his 22 starts producing 15 wins and four seconds.
American Boy resumed after an absence of just over four months when he raced wide early and then in the one-out, one-back position before sprinting strongly to burst to the lead on the home turn and win by almost two lengths from Char Do Neigh at a 1.54.1 rate in a heat of the Nights of Thunder last Friday night.
“I’ll be trying to hold the lead,” Hall jun. said. “American Boy is good enough to win and we’ll certainly be making it tough for his rivals. I know that the other two are going really well, but I would say that American Boy is equally as good as them, if not better. He can win.”
Rock Diamonds set for eight in a row
Greg and Skye Bond, celebrating their century of winners this season when they landed a double at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon, repeated the dose with a double at Gloucester Park on Tuesday evening. And they should give punters a flying start by winning the opening event, the TABtouch Pace for three-year-olds at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The Forrestdale master trainers will be pinning their hopes on Rock Diamonds, who is unbeaten at his first seven starts in Western Australia.
The Bonds and reinsman Ryan Warwick are proving an all-conquering combination and they are on top of the national trainers’ and drivers’ premiership tables.
An indication of the ability of Rock Diamond, a colt by Rocknroll Hanover who finished third at his only start in New Zealand, is that he has won his seven races in WA by a combined total of 64.7 metres — an average winning margin of 9.14m.
Rock Diamonds warmed up for Friday night’s assignment with an impressive victory at Pinjarra on Monday when he started from the back line, settled at the rear and then charged forward to move into the breeze before surging to the front 400m from home on his way to a four-length victory over Hindu Kumara, rating 1.58.6 over 2692m.
Rock Diamonds is closely related to a former star from the Bond stables in Ohokas Bondy, who amassed $388,148 from 22 wins and nine placings from 44 starts. Among his victories were The Golden Slipper in 2010, the Caduceus Club Classic, the Western Gateway Pace and Battle of Bunbury in 2011 and the Nights of Thunder, the Four-Year-Old Classic at Pinjarra and the WA Triple Crown in 2012.
Ohokas Bondy’s dam Asabella is the mother of Dancing Diamonds, the dam of Rock Diamonds. Ohokas Bondy’s half-brother Code Red won 12 races, six of them for trainer Gary Hall sen., including the 3309m Marathon Handicap at Gloucester Park in August 2012.
Rock Diamonds certainly will not have things all his own way on Friday night when he will rise considerably in class, with his rivals including smart last-start winners in Im Rockaria, Maczaffair and Allmightyjoelouis and talented pacers El Barcelona and Major Pocket.
Gary Hall jun. has given punters a strong lead by opting to drive the Michael Brennan-trained Im Rockaria in preference to El Barcelona, trained by his father Gary Hall sen. and the winner at four of his nine starts.
“Im Rockaria can beat Rock Diamonds,” declared Hall jun., who drove Im Rockaria to an effortless all-the-way win by more than seven lengths from Bethany Aitch over 2285m at Albany on New Year’s Eve.
“He led from barrier one at Albany, which is not a good draw on that track,” said Hall who was driving there for only the second time in his illustrious career.
Im Rockaria, the winner of six of his ten starts, will be strongly fancied from the prized No. 1 barrier on Friday night.
The Bonds and Warwick, apart from heading the national lists, hold commanding leads in the Statewide premierships. The Bonds have prepared 102 winners from 347 starters this season and lead from Gary Hall sen. (47 winners from 214 starters) and Warwick has had 245 drives for 84 winners and leads from Chris Lewis (70 wins from 393 drives) and Gary Hall jun. (66 wins from 289 starts).
Ken Casellas