Lewis aims for more champagne

Champion reinsman Chris Lewis has won the Champagne Classic a record seven times and he has high hopes of adding to this impressive tally by driving Lavra Joe to victory in the $40,000 feature event for two-year-olds at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

He gave punters a strong lead by choosing to handle the Ray Jones-trained Lavra Joe in preference to Ross Olivieri’s promising colt Star of Willoughby.

Lavra Joe notched his third win from his past four starts when he started from the outside barrier in a field of five in a 1609m event at Bunbury last Saturday night. He raced three wide for the first 150m and then in the breeze outside the pacemaker Sugar Street before racing locked together with that pacer over the final 300m and prevailing by a head.

The time for the 1609m was 1.55.9, with final quarters of 27.9sec. and 28.2sec.

Lavra Joe’s prospects in the 2130m Champagne Classic improved considerably when he drew the prized No. 1 barrier and Lewis is sure to make full use of the colt’s excellent gate speed and attempt an all-the-way victory.

Star of Willoughby, who will start from barrier No. 5, with Chris Voak in the sulky, enjoyed the one-out, one-back trail in last Saturday’s Bunbury event and he finished solidly to be a close third. That followed a solid first-up second to Machnificent at Gloucester Park.

Machnificent, who is trained at Byford by Katja Warwick and will be driven by Gary Hall Jnr, looms large as a serious threat to Lavra Joe in the Champagne Classic. He was most impressive when he set the pace and dashed over the final quarters in 28.7sec. and 27sec. to win from Star of Willoughby and Robbie Rocket at a 1.58.9 rate over 1730m at Gloucester Park on Easter Thursday. That was his second win from five starts and he looks set for a bright career.

With Hall opting to handle Machnificent, Boyanup trainer Justin Prentice decided to drive his promising gelding Adda Something, who was driven by Hall at his past two outings for a second to Lavra Joe at Gloucester Park and an all-the-way win over Disco Demon at Bunbury last Saturday week when he sped over the final 400m in 27.3sec. Adda Something’s prospects diminished significantly after drawing out wide at barrier seven.

Prentice will also be represented by Beat The Bank, who will be driven by Dylan Egerton-Green from barrier three. Beat The Bank set the pace from barrier one and won from Troopingofthecolor over 1730m at Gloucester Park two starts ago.

Shannon  Suvaljko, who drove the Noel Keiley-trained Bettors Ace to victory in the 2010 Champagne Classic, will handle Robbie Rocket in this week’s race, but the colt, a winner at two of his four starts, faces a daunting task from the outside barrier at No. 9.

Lewis has won the Champagne Classic behind Pardon Me Boys (1987), Talladega (1999), Wirrpunda (2001), All Four Firing (2002), Slick Operator (2003), David Hercules (2009) and Mister Jadore (2013). 

 

Ken Casellas