Boyanup horseman Justin Prentice has trained the runner-up in the Westral Dainty’s Daughter Classic three times and now he is confident he can break the drought and win the $50,000 feature event for harness racing three-year-old fillies at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The 28-year-old Boyanup trainer has four of the ten runners and he has chosen to drive Lady Luca in preference to Im Stylish, Betshes Precious and Somehereonlyiknow in the 2130m group 2 classic.
Lady Luca, a winner at two of her 13 starts, has drawn the prized No. 1 barrier and Prentice declared: “She’ll be hard to get around. She has good gate speed and should hold up.
“I was happy with her latest run (when she raced on the pegs in fourth position before finishing solidly to be a close-up third behind Hit It Rich and Maczaffair over 2130m last Friday night). It took a bit to get her off the fence because she wanted to hang down a little bit.
“I’ve made a gear change to cure that and I’m confident she will get straight to the front. Im Stylish is also a very nice filly and her work has been really good.”
Im Styish has drawn awkwardly at barrier five and will be handled by Tom Buchanan. Nathan Turvey will drive Somewhereonlyiknow (barrier six) and Betshes Precious will be driven by Dylan Egerton-Green from the No. 3 barrier.
“Im Stylish certainly has a good winning chance and, swap the barrier draws with Lady Luca, I would have driven Im Stylish,” Prentice said.
“It’s a good field and I have been impressed by Maczaffair and Hit It Rich, who won in good style last week. Maczaffair, to this stage, has proved the best filly in the State, but she has drawn out wide this week.”
Shannon Suvaljko was suspended for 21 days last Friday night after finishing an unlucky second to Hit It Rich with Maczaffair. He pleaded guilty for causing interference to Somewhereonlyiknow and Susies Desire on the home turn. He has been granted a stay of proceedings and will drive the Mike Reed-trained Maczaffair from the outside (No. 9) on the front line.
Maczaffair has won seven timers from 14 starts and looks set to fight out the finish, despite her outside barrier. Two starts ago she started from barrier six and raced in sixth position before charging home to win easily from the pacemaker Susies Desire.
Im Stylish has not appeared since she raced in the one-out, one-back position and finished fifth behind Herrick Roosevelt on December 16. At her previous start, she worked hard without cover when a fighting second to talented gelding El Barcelona.
Hit It Rich has won at each of her three starts for leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond since arriving from New Zealand and she cannot be overlooked, even though she has drawn out wide at barrier eight. She raced in the breeze and impressed in finishing strongly to win from Maczaffair last Friday night when the final 400m was covered in 28.1sec.
Prentice-trained fillies to have finished second in the Dainty’s Daughter Classic have been Racketeers Girl, The Parade and Quite A Delight.
Prentice drove Racketeers Girl when she started at 10/1 and finished second to Artemis Belle in 2011. The Parade (16/1) was handled by Chris Lewis when second to Majorly Foxy Styx in 2014 and Lewis also drove 4/1 chance Quite A Delight when she was second to Nuala in 2015.
Prentice was in New Zealand, buying yearlings when the race was run in 2014 and 2015. He will leave Perth on Monday to attend the New Zealand yearling sales.
Adding considerable intrigue and interest in Friday night’s classic will be the first appearance in WA of the WA-bred filly Soho Angel, who is prepared in Victoria by Michael Stanley and has raced 14 times in that State for five wins, four placings and $93,500 in stakes. Bred and owned by Robert Watson, Soho Angel will start from the No. 7 barrier and will be driven by Kim Prentice.
Soho Angel, by champion stallion Bettors Delight, is the first of the progeny of Soho Champagne, whose only win from 12 starts was by a half-length over Bus To Cardiff in a three-year-old 2180m event at Wagin on December 23, 2011.
Soho Champagne’s second foal is Soho All Shook Up, a two-year-old filly who won at her debut for Stanley at Maryborough on Thursday of last week when she dashed over the final sections in 27.7sec. and 29.4sec. and ran the 1609m journey in 1.56.8.
Soho Angel and Soho All Shook Up are related on the dam’s side to The Suleiman (292 starts for 65 wins, 90 placings and $521,270) and Highland Park (51 starts for 11 wins, 15 placings and $173,032). Both those pacers were trained and driven in their West Australian races by Andrew de Campo.
Ken Casellas