Promising young mare Quite A Delight will return to action after a six-week let-up and she is capable of extending outstanding mare Leda McNally in the $23,000 Mares Pace over 21230m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Trained at Boyanup by Justin Prentice, the four-year-old Quite a Delight is the youngest runner in the event and the least experienced, with only 13 starts for seven wins and four placings.
This will be her first appearance at Gloucester Park since she finished a nose second to stablemate Major Reality in the group 1 WA Oaks last May after she had raced wide and then in the breeze.
Quite A Delight is unbeaten at three starts as a four-year-old, with a decisive first-up win in 1.56.2 over 1609m at Bunbury followed by convincing victories over 2185m and 2692m at Pinjarra.
Whether Quite A Delight will be speedy and strong enough to resist a strong challenge from the wonderful seven-year-old Leda McNally, who boosted her record to 24 wins and 18 placings from 81 starts for stakes of $412,263 with a strong all-the-way victory over Cyamach over 2536m last Friday night, is problematical.
But Leda McNally, an M14-class performer, will have to overcome starting from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line to lower the colours of M0 performer Quite A Delight, who is sure to appreciate starting from the No. 2 barrier.
The five-year-old New Zealand-bred mares Millwood Faith and Eastwood Crystal, who are racing keenly for Forrestdale trainers Greg and Skye Bond, will have admirers as will the Ross Olivieri-trained pair of polemarker Bonny Under Fire and Deluxe Edition.
Bonny Under Fire (Stuart McDonald) is a speedy beginner who could hold out Quite A Delight in the battle for the early lead, while Deluxe Edition, an easy Bunbury winner two starts ago, must come under consideration from the No. 5 barrier.
Ken Casellas