No One Faster as gelding triumphs

HE STARTED as a red hot favourite, and he produced a red hot performance at Fannie Bay yesterday.

The Gary Clarke-trained four-year-old gelding One Faster ($1.70) streeted his rivals in the TIO Insurance Handicap (1300m) and made his rivals look second rate.

A third (1100m) and first (1300m) against 0-64 opposition in his first two starts in Darwin caught the eye, and the jump to a 0-76 level proved no barrier for the former Victorian galloper.

Assuming the lead after 200m, One Faster (Brendon Davis) had Sheila Arnold’s Quantum Dot (Wayne Kerford) and Kerry Petrick’s Moon Devll (Wayne Davis) for company, but Clarke’s charger looked a million dollars.

The trio kicked clear of their rivals and with 400m left to go it would have been a shock had One Faster not gone on to win the race.

He raced clear in the home straight to lead his rivals a very merry dance and Clarke was beaming after the race.

“He jumped from the inside gate and dropped 3.5kg after his last start, so I was relatively confident if he could run a good race today,” Clarke said.

“I’m not sure what I’ll do with him next, but the Palmerston Sprint is unlikely.

“I might see how he goes over 1600m during the Cup Carnival and the Bridge Toyota Cup is an option.”

Alice Springs visitor Lady Phromily (Jarrod Todd) from the Lisa Whitte stable finished an eye-catching second.

Quantum Dot chewed up a lot of petrol during the first half of the race, but was rewarded for his efforts by securing third place.

Kevin Lamprecht’s Dancing Poetess (Raymond Vigar) and former Alice Springs Cup winner Spartan Eagle (Kayla Cross), from the Bob Richard stable, finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Neil Dyer’s Bel Sir (Roger Booth) was sixth, Mark Nyhan’s Bedisguised (Zack Gibbs) was seventh, Moon Devil faded to run eighth. Kerry Petrick’s Kayno (Felicia Bergstrand) ran ninth and Best Case came 10th.