$100,000 Princi Smallgoods 2YO Pearl Classic

Brilliant colt Jack Mac is spot on for Friday night's $100,000 Princi Smallgoods 2YO Pearl Classic (2130m) at Gloucester Park. The Group 1 feature is restricted to the 12 harness racing youngsters who qualified in the four heats run at headquarters on May 30.

On that night favourite backers received an almighty scare when long odds-on favourite Jack Mac broke from his inside gate just as the starter sent the field on its way. Champion reinsman Chris Lewis didn't panic and managed to settle the son of Mach Three back into a pace and he quickly circled the field to take up the running. Jack Mac showed his class by sprinting the last 400m in a slick 27.5 – the quickest last section from the four heats – to easily account for Pocket More For Less and Liam Neil.

Busselton trainer Barry Howlett, who bought Jack Mac in New Zealand, has since sent the horse to two trials and he is now back in the draw after his uncharacteristic mistake. "Chris said the horse seemed to shy at something in his heat," Howlett said. "It was just as the starter let them go and I don't know if it was something inside the track but when he looked back up the mobile maybe gave him a fright but he's all good now and I'm very happy where he's at for Friday night's race."

Jack Mac has drawn gate five for the Pearl and Lewis has a few options with the horse. He has good gate speed from the machine and can be sent forward at the start or he can sit back and come with a quick turn of foot when asked. "I was in New Zealand for the Jewels series over the weekend so I didn't see Jack Mac trial at Pinjarra last Sunday," Howlett said. "But I caught up with Chris on Monday and he told me the horse went super. He ran his last quarter in 28.4 and Chris said he did it well. He's a pretty good horse and he's improved since he arrived here. I think he'll be hard to beat in the Pearl." Howlett will keep Jack Mac in work after Friday night's Pearl, providing he comes through as expected. "We'll aim for the Slipper with him in early July," he said. "Then we'll tip him out for a spell after that."

Howlett, who started training pacers as a hobby, won his first Group 1 race in 1994 when Lights Above won the 2YO Fillies Final. He had to wait a further 20 years before he tasted success at the top level again when Three Blind Mice, a 20/1 outsider, led all the way for driver Matthew White and Howlett to win the $200,000 WA Derby in 2014.

Race 7

PRINCI SMALLGOODS 2YO PEARL CLASSIC MS PACE (SKY 1)

8:27 PM

GROUP 1. 2C0 Or Better. 2YO Colts and Geldings. RESTRICTED TO 2YOS THAT QUALIFIED IN HEATS AT GPC 30-5-17. If you qualify for the final you must start in it otherwise normal scratching penalties will apply. ANY SUBSEQUENT WINNING PERFORMANCE WILL NOT DEEM YOU INELIGIBLE FOR THE FINAL. THE WINNER OF THIS RACE WILL BE EXEMPT FROM THE BALLOT FOR THE GOLDEN SLIPPER STAKES AT GPM 14-07-17. RBD. Prizemoney: $100,000
2130 METRES	3RD LEG QUADDIE	MOBILE START

	Form	Horse	Trainer	Other Eng.	Driver		Class	Hcp
1	31441	WARRIORS CODE	D Quadrio		Nathan Turvey		2C3	FR1
2	53053	OOSHTAA	H T Herbert		Gary Herbert		2C0	FR2
3	11232	ROCK ME OVER	K Warwick		Gary Hall Jnr		2C2	FR3
4	33	LIAM NEIL	D A Thompson		Dylan Egerton-Green		2C0	FR4
5	45111	JACK MAC NZ	B J Howlett		Chris Lewis		2C3	FR5
6	11252	POCKET MORE FOR LESS NZ	J K Prentice		Morgan Woodley		2C2	FR6
7	33683	JOIN THE QUE	J K Prentice		Hayden Charles		2C0	FR7
8	1	HIGHROLLER JOE	J K Prentice		Justin Prentice		2C1	FR8
9	402	BILLY BOEING	M G Brennan		Shannon Suvaljko		2C0	FR9
———- Second Row ———-
10	49382	NAVAL AVIATOR	M G Brennan		Michael Grantham (C)		2C0	SR1
11	57384	UNIVERSAL MAJOR	R A Olivieri		Chris Voak		2C0	SR2
12	981	ALLWOOD PEACEMAKER	D J Harper		Donald Harper		2C1	SR3
13	6564	BOLTA (Em 1)	J F Oldroyd		Clinton Hall		2C0	SR-
14	44	BAYARDO NZ (Em 2)	B J Howlett		Dylan Egerton-Green		2C0	SR-

Wayne Currall