Luck Of The Irish Gives Ben Abercrombie Group Victory
Hot Irish confirmed herself last night as Western Australia's premier sprinter with a dominant display in the Group 2 All Star Sprint.
The second biggest sprint event behind the Perth Cup, the All Stars has seen some amazing chasers win over the time, and Hot Irish deserves to be amongst that company after being an ultra-consistent performer over the past year.
Drawing box eight in the final would see Hot Irish jump at $2.10 favourite, having also posted the fastest heat time of 30.29. Until Then ($4.30) was looking for the hat-trick from the inside box after a 30.36 win, while the evergreen Vocal Enforcer ($4.60) was the defending champion of the event drawn five, and was well in the market with a similar 30.32 run a week prior.
There was some hope given to Strappers Angel ($16.40) which looked good odds after winning a heat last week in 30.46. Big Jo King ($15.20) and Mini Emily ($15.40) were also given some specking while Our Topper and City Rumble were seem to be place chances only.
As fun as it would be to report a race where there were several lead changes and a thrilling finish, it was a dominant go-to-whoa display by Ben Abercrombie's chaser, as the black bitch flew away and crossed the field with ease around the first bend, giving nothing else a chance.
Stopping the clock at 30.27 for the 530m journey with many lengths to spare, the career prize purse is heading towards $200,000 with another $40,000 in the bank for owner Damon Fardig.
Big Jo King for Linda Britton took a nice runners-up cheque for his efforts, while Vocal Enforcer overcame early bother to run-on in to third place, ahead of Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting's dog, Strapper's Angel.
Race winner, Hot Irish, is an October 2009 daughter of Premier Fantasy and Lovey Craves It. While the sire is obviously well known worldwide, Lovey Craves It is a dam whose progeny are without a heap of Group race precedence, with only Hot Irish making a splash from two litters to date – the other being to Global Warming in February 2009.
Elsewhere on the program, the other fast-class event was taken out by former Victorian, Hodge, who led all the way in 30.51. Having only his tenth start in the state, last night's victory brought up his fifth win in the West and looks to be a very handy pickup for John Carmody, who took over training last month.
The son of Bombastic Shiraz and American Beauty, has always been blessed with early speed and has several wins at Traralgon and Sandown Park to its name, however injuries and a form decline meant the dog was sent interstate in hope of getting the most out of his early potential. It has proven to be a smart move as the money is flowing much more steadily with the trip across the nullabor, and will continue if FFA wins are to become the norm.
While on the topic of W.A racing, Miata stepped out on the Mandurah circuit during the week, in an elementary 647m event. Starting from box 3 at unbackable odds, the multiple Group 1 winner settled third before using her customary strength to blow her rivals away. She ran a time of 36.50 which is the second fastest time ever recorded for the journey, behind her own track record set in December 2011 of course.