Hall Jnr Knows He Needs A Big Run
Champion driver Gary Hall Jnr is under no illusion just how tough a task he faces when he teams up with Know When To Run in this Friday night’s Group 1 Colts & Geldings Westbred Classic (2130m) at Gloucester Park.
Hall Jnr, who won the race last year with One Off Delight, will have to overcome barrier eight if he’s to take out this year’s edition of the $100,000 event.
Know When To Run, a winner at five of his 10 starts, solidified his claims for the Westbred Classic with a strong start-to-finish win against five of the runners he will face this Friday night.
However, all of those runners have drawn to the inside of Know When To Run this week and has made the gelding’s task all the more difficult.
Hall Jnr said Know When To Run need to rely on luck from the wide draw.
“It looks tough for him,” he told RWWA Harness.
“He’s racing really well, but the draw probably puts us in a position where we need to be conservative and try and earn some good money.
“He can still win, but he needs things to really go his way from out there.”
Patrickthepiranha, a last start fourth to Know When To Run, looms as the one to beat after he drew barrier three.
The Colin Brown-trained gelding has had little luck with barriers in his past four starts and has been driven conservatively, but looks to get his chance to cross to the lead on Friday night.
Theo Aviator (barrier four), Gee Jay Kay (five), Back In Twenty (six) and Its Rock And Roll (10) were the other runners behind Know When To Run and his last start win and all of them have solid claims on this week’s event.
Hall Jnr said he wasn’t sure what he would do at the start of the race, but said the Justin Prentice-trainer pacer could roll forward if he had to.
“He does have a really good turn of speed,” he said.
“As the draw looks like it’s going to play out, there doesn’t look like a lot of mid-race pressure.
“Even if he can run quick time, being three or four wide off the track is probably not going to help anyway.”
Hall Jnr will also have to overcome barrier eight if he’s to win the Group 1 Fillies Westbred Classic (2130m) with Fake News, trained by his father Gary Hall Snr.
“She could’ve won this race from a good draw,” Hall Jnr said.
“Very hard-pressed to see her winning from this draw now.”
The 12-event program gets underway at 4.16 on Friday afternoon.
Tim Walker
Image: Scott Hamilton