Former Victorian pacer Dynamite Dude is a standing-start specialist and Oakford trainer Ross Olivieri is hoping that the seven-year-old will continue his remarkable sequence of wins in stands when he starts off 20m in the Stuart Lowe Handicap at the harness racing meeting at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
"He has never been beaten out of a stand in Western Australia," Olivieri said. "He has had nine starts in stands here for nine wins."
Dynamite Dude and his stablemate Our Blackbird are M6-class pacers and are favourably handicapped off the 20m mark, which they will share with 12-year-old Rocket Reign and 11-year-old Shardons Rocket.
The other six runners are M2-class pacers and will start off the front line. If automatic handicapping conditions applied to this event, Dynamite Dude and Our Blackbird would be off the 40m mark.
Dynamite Dude will be returning to a standing-start event after contesting mobiles at his latest four outings.
He has put up splendid efforts at his two latest starts, twice finishing solidly to be fourth behind the talented Bettors Fire over 2130m.
Olivieri said that Dynamite Dude and Our Blackbird, as well as stablemate Red Salute, were being set for the TABtouch interdominion championships series at Gloucester Park and Bunbury in November and December.
"Dynamite Dude is just working up; he's had a nice long, slow preparation," Olivieri said. "I didn't want to gut him on the way up because the Inters are still a few months off. I just want to put some racing into him between now and then without gutting him.
"I put him in the stand this week because I want to start him in a 2536m mobile in two weeks and then two weeks after that there is a feature race. So I want to get him on a two-week cycle; I didn't want him to go three weeks without a run.
"Our Blackbird is a sit and kick horse, coming back from a little break. He will be driven conservatively, so he's probably just a place chance.
But he does race well and he did finish fifth in a Hunter Cup.
"I've also nominated Chief Thundercloud for the Interdominion, but I've decided to give him a well-earned spell. I have always had doubts about his ability to compete at the highest level. He has come from a C3 to an M4 and he's had no break. His most recent run was rather disappointing and his work hasn't been as sharp. He has won a hundred grand this preparation and he's earned a spell."
Olivieri named Copagrin as a serious rival to Dynamite Dude and Our Blackbird.
Copagrin, trained at West Swan by John Guagliardo, will start from the inside of the scratch mark in the 2503m event.
This will be his first appearance since he started from 30m and raced in the one-out, one-back position for most of the way before finishing a sound third behind My Good Deed over 2631m at Pinjarra on June 9.
Copagrin's recent Byford trial form has been most encouraging. He rated 1.56.4 when he won a 2150m mobile trial from Lies A Lot on Sunday morning. He was a c lose second to Pacific Warrior over 2150m the previous Sunday.
Copagrin, a winner of 16 races and $186,552, showed his class when third to David Hercules and Northview Punter in the Fremantle Cup last January.
Rocket Reign impressed when he finished boldly from last to be third behind Bettors Fire and Tuxedo Tour over 2536m last Friday week.
Bettor Rock On and Hez Got The Nod raced keenly last Friday night.
Bettor Rock On, at his first appearance in WA after arriving from Victoria, finished strongly from eighth at the bell to be fourth behind Hez Got The Nod in a 2503m stand.
He was also at a disadvantage when his deafeners failed to release.
Hez Got The Nod set the pace before being overhauled by hot favourite Norvic Nightowl 380m from home.
But he fought back determinedly to regain the lead and beat Norvic Nightowl by a half-head.
Ken Casellas