Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Teenager Liam Elliott is driving in wonderful form, and he gets a perfect opportunity to land another winner when he handles Cherry On The Cake for owner-trainer Eric Chabros in the Event Parking at the Bridge Bar Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Elliott drove the six-year-old mare for the first time last Friday week when she had a tough run without cover for much of the way and took the lead with about 300m to travel before finishing second to Shes A Tiny Dancer.
Cherry On The Cake possesses excellent gate speed and is a capable frontrunner. She is perfectly drawn at the No. 1 barrier and is the likely leader who should take plenty of catching.
She has set the pace from barrier one and has won at Pinjarra and at Gloucester Park. The 19-year-old Elliott has excelled in the sulky this year, landing 33 winners in the first seven months.
Five-year-old Road Star, trained and driven by Chris Voak, appears to be one of Cherry On The Cake’s main rivals, with his past six starts producing a Pinjarra win and four placings, the most recent being at Narrogin last Saturday night when he sustained a strong three-wide burst to finish third behind Your Grace and Shes A Tiny Dancer.
Brilliant mare Copy Cat Queen, trained and driven by Aiden De Campo, will be aiming for her fourth win in a row when she begins from out wide at barrier No. 8 in the opening event, the $27,000 Thank You Free-For-All for fillies and mares over 2130m.
Copy Cat Queen meets some smart in-form pacers, but she possesses such a devastating late sprint that she again should prove very hard to beat.
Among her rivals is the only three-year-old in the event, the Michael Young-trained Jaxs Ideal, who will be driven by Emily Suvaljko and is capable of a bold showing from the prized No. 1 barrier. She has led from barrier one and won at Bunbury and Gloucester Park.
Jaxs Ideal looks capable of improvement after unplaced efforts at her first four outings after a spell. She began from barrier four in a 2130m event last Friday night when she raced three wide early and then in the breeze before wilting late to finish sixth behind Chilli Punter.
Chilli Punter, who enjoyed a good sit in the one-out, one-back position before finishing strongly to win from Dame Valour and Pushbutton Rock, will start from the outside barrier in Friday night’s field of nine runners.
Sweet Vivienne, trained and driven by Chris Voak, will start from barrier five and will have many admirers after her splendid victory at a 1.58 rate over 2130m on Tuesday night. She dashed to an early lead from the No. 2 barrier and gave her rivals little chance when she sped over the final 400m sections in 28.1sec. and 28.4sec.
Serpentine trainer Dylan Egerton-Green has two smart mares engaged in the race in which he has chosen to drive four-year-old Grand Couteau in preference to six-year-old Rebline, who will be driven by Trent Wheeler.
Rebline impressed when she began from the outside barrier on the front line and was eleventh at the bell before running home strongly, out five wide, to finish fifth behind Chilli Punter last Friday night.