“Gardys Legacy is the best horse and he’s shown he has the most class,” said champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr when declaring the Justin Prentice-trained pacer had the ability to overcome a backline draw and win the $80,000 Allwood Stud Farm Westbred Classic for three-year-old colts and geldings at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“I’m happy with the draw at barrier eleven (No. 2 on the back line),” said Hall. “He should be able to follow the leader Longreach Bay, who flies out, and then I’ll try to keep in front of as many of the other runners as we can.
“His latest run when Justin drove him, and he finished second to Magnificent Storm on Tuesday of last week was super. Justin was happy with that run and said that Gardys Legacy felt like he was back to his best. He’ll be hard to beat.”
Longreach Bay, trained by Peter King and driven by Maddison Brown, revealed sparkling gate speed to lead easily from the No. 1 barrier last week on his way to winning a Westsired event from Keptain Courageous and Aristocratic Star.
Drawn the prized barrier one is ace trainer-reinsman Colin Brown’s Rich And Spoilt gelding Adda Pocket Rinse, who reappeared after an absence of six and a half months when he started from the inside of the back line, trailed the pacemaker Longreach Bay and finished a well-beaten fifth behind that pacer last Friday night. He possesses good gate speed and has led and won at Bunbury and Pinjarra.
The Prentice stable also has a good second string runner in Aristocratic Star, who will start from the outside of the back line with Stuart McDonald in the sulky, and trainer Matt Scott and Shannon Suvaljko will be hoping for Miracle Max, a winner at five of his nine starts, to cause an upset.
Miracle Max will start from the No. 4 barrier. He started from the outside of the back line last Friday night when he overraced in sixth position, four back on the pegs, before finishing a well-beaten fourth behind Longreach Bay.
Star trainers Greg and Skye Bond go into the event with a two-pronged attack with Manifestly Excesiv (Dylan Egerton-Green from the outside of the front line) and Poisedtopounce (inside of the back line, with Ryan Warwick in the sulky).
Manifestly Excesiv, a winner at seven of his 19 starts, faces a tough assignment from the outside barrier, but Poisedtopounce, who has won at each of his past five outings, all in stands, boasts a splendid record of 19 starts for 11 wins and two second placings. He is certainly capable of figuring strongly in the finish.
Ken Casellas