Victory Won’t Be A Shock For Bell

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Harness

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HARNESS

Trainer Ryan Bell concedes Shockwave has a difficult task in front of him if he’s to win the Group 2 Caduceus Club Classic (2130m) at Gloucester Park tomorrow night, but is confident he has the right horse to upstage warm favourite Patrickthepiranha.

Shockwave, to be driven by Gary Hall Jnr once again, has impressed at his two most recent outings at Gloucester Park, where he overcame barrier five on both occasions, however he has drawn barrier eight tomorrow night.

Despite the draw, Bell said he has Shockwave primed for a big performance in the $40,000 event.

“As good as our bloke is going, the barrier is a bad one for him,” he said.

“I’m confident he will put in a forward performance, but he will have to do the hard yards.

“Our bloke is more forward than a lot of others in the field, but with Patrickthepiranha drawn barrier one over 2130 he can still afford to be fresh and be too good.”

Shockwave produced, arguably, a career best performance over 1730m on January 25, where he rated 1.54.0, before he returned on February 1 over 2130m and rated 1.57.7.

The Group 1 WA Derby on April 5 looms as the likely target for a majority of the three-year-olds engaged in tomorrow night’s feature.

Bell described both performances as “pretty impressive” and said the fortnight between runs suited Shockwave perfectly.

“He’s been lucky for most of his career so far that he’s been able to have two weeks between runs,” he said.

“It has meant we’ve been able to keep him fresh a lot of the time.

“He’s probably the type of horse I could keep fresh and I’d only work him at home to have him ready for the Derby.”

Bell added he was hopeful he would be able to retain the services of Hall Jnr for the duration of Shockwave’s preparation.

Patrickthepiranha, who is looking for seven straight wins, was installed a $1.55 chance with TABtouch, ahead of Gee Jay Kay ($5), Franco Edward ($5) and Shockwave ($5.50).

Gee Jay Kay, who was the favourite in both of the recent races Shockwave won, has drawn barrier three tomorrow night, while Franco Edward has drawn barrier nine.

Dylan Egerton-Green retains the drive on the Colin Brown-trained Patrickthepiranha and said he was confident the gelding would be able to lead all the way from the inside draw.

“He’s got the right draw, but I still have to make sure that he runs off the gate and make sure nothing else can cross,” he said.

“It’s a pretty handy field with Shockwave and Franco Edward, then you have a horse like Valbonne who has also been going well.

“I have to keep my wits about me early but he should be able to capitalise on the good draw.”

The Caduceus Club Classic gets underway at 7.25.

Tim Walker