Friday night’s Gloucester Park card had everything – tight finishes, rising stars, and a Hall family treble that stamped their authority… yet again.
The spotlight was on the Dainty’s Daughter Classic, and it came right down to the wire. Fakenit, trained by Gary Hall Snr and driven by Maddison Brown, produced the goods late to grab Jnr and Bettathanlife by a lengthening margin.
She rated smartly in 1:56.5, and looked like she had plenty more to give.
Brown was all smiles after the win:
“She did that really easy. She is relaxing super well in her racing which will help going into the WA Oaks and the longer trip… She did it with a leg in the air.”
It was the headline act on a night where Hall Snr chalked up three winners in a row, a reminder – if anyone needed one – that his team is right where it needs to be heading into spring.
Sweet Pins showed both his quirks and his class. Gary Hall Jnr admitted he had some concerns mid-race when the gelding seemed to switch off, but the response when asked was enough to get the job done.
“Going past the winning post for the last time he dropped the bit a little bit on me which was a concern, but I shook him up down the back and he had something there which I was pretty thankful for!”
Awkward or not, Hall Jnr is convinced “there’s an engine in there, that’s for sure” – and the signs are good that Sweet Pins is heading the right way.
Mister Smartee, a short-priced commodity in the We Love Our Members Pace, beat W.A. newcomer Captain Ravishing by 5.8m – leaving fans salivating as a clash between them and Magnificent Storm is brewing.
Sweet Vivienne continued her rich vein of form, showing another gear in her latest win. Driver Chris Voak was quick to point out just how much she’s stepped up:
“For whatever reason she has gone to another level over the last three weeks and she still had another 800m left in her at that speed! Maybe we can give her a crack at those mare’s races this time in.”
She’s quickly building the kind of reputation that makes trainers and drivers dream big – and she doesn’t look like slowing down.
Not to be outdone, Grand Couteau showed her toughness in the later races. Dylan Egerton-Green summed it up simply:
“I got away with a cheap first half, so if she got beat I would have been pretty disappointed.”
While she can be tricky – dangerous when stalking a helmet, a touch lazy when in front – the ability is clearly there. Egerton-Green is confident she’ll handle better company in time and earn plenty along the way.
By the end of the night, the story was clear: the Hall stable is humming. With a treble in the bag, Brown securing Fakenit’s golden ticket to the WA Oaks, and others like Sweet Pins improving every run, the big races ahead look made for them. Add in Sweet Vivienne’s purple patch and Grand Couteau’s progression, and punters have more than a few names to circle in their books.