Leda McNally can bounce back
Top-class mare Leda McNally has finished last at her past two starts, but Pinjarra harness racing trainer Chris King is confident she can bounce back to her best by winning the $23,000 Home And Away Breeders Stakes Prelude over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
There have been plenty of excuses for those recent failures and King is delighted that the Victorian-bred seven-year-old has drawn ideally at barrier No. 2 in the one line of nine runners.
“The plan is for Leda McNally to lead,” said King, who has an excellent second string in Artesian Queen, who will start from barrier three.
King said that he had discussed tactics with young reinsman Michael Grantham. “Leda McNally has very good gate speed and I think she can cross the polemarker Jungle Jewel,” he said. “Michael is ready to go to the front and hold the lead. I’m not intimidated by any other runners and it will be a risky move for any horse taking on an M14-class pacer.
“Leda McNally has taken no harm from her torrid run last week and she’s eating well and looks well. It’s also a 2130m race, not a 2500m event, which will suit her. So we can run some time up front and can bounce back after she’s had two gutted runs at her past two starts. She can peel off a 55sec. last half and if she leads they’ll have to run 54sec. to beat her. If Ideal Alice had drawn inside her, it would be a different ball game.
“Two starts ago Leda McNally got stuck in the breeze and pulled her head off (when a fading ninth and last behind Pacific Warrior over 2536m) and last Friday night she started off the back mark of 50m in the 2503m Race For Roses when she was forced four wide and then was stuck out three deep for almost two laps (before finishing 12th behind Digital Art).
“She can beat Delightful Jade, Ideal Alice and Quite A Delight, and the other mares in the race. She’s beaten all those horses and has beaten Ideal Alice several times. It is worth remembering that she has won three Free-For-Alls at Gloucester Park this season, when leading, as well as running two seconds and two thirds. She’s had torrid runs in her other unplaced runs.”
King said that if Leda McNally was able to lead on Friday night he would expect Artesian Queen, to be driven by Chris Voak, to race in the breeze or in the one-out, one-back position.
Artesian Queen worked hard in the breeze before winning in fine style over 2130m at Gloucester Park last Friday night. That was her ninth start after an absence of 29 months and it was her third win from her past four starts.
Champion trainer Gary Hall sen. holds a strong hand in Friday night’s event in which he will be represented by last-start winners Ideal Alice (barrier eight) and Delightful Jade (seven). Gary Hall jun. will drive Ideal Alice and his brother Clint will handle Delightful Jade.
Hall jun. drove Delightful Jade (an M2-class mare who has won at 18 of her 36 starts) at her most recent outing when she revealed blistering gate speed from barrier six to charge to the front before taking the sit behind Lady Willoughby and then finishing fast to win by a head from that mare over 1730m at a 1.55.5 rate on April 22.
Clint Hall drove Ideal Alice at her most recent outing, over 1730m last Friday week, when she trailed the pacemaker Firebomb before gaining a late split and sprinting brilliantly to get up and win by s head at a 1.53.4 rate. That was her 12th win from 36 starts.
Hall sen. predicted that Delightful Jade’s early brilliance would enable her to burst to the front and prove hard to beat. He said that Ideal Alice’s wide draw was far from ideal, but he expected her to maintain her excellent form and take plenty of beating.
Boyanup trainer-reinsman Justin Prentice will be hoping that four-year-old Quite A Delight will make amends for her last-start failure — when she raced without cover before wilting to seventh and last behind Deluxe Edition over 2130m on April 8. Her previous form this season was outstanding — eight starts for five wins, two seconds and one third.
Jungle Jewel, trained by Greg and Skye Bond, has drawn the coveted No. 1 barrier and gets a good opportunity to end a losing sequence of 15.
Ken Casellas
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