It may have taken longer than expected, but Jumpingjackmac may finally be starting to deliver on the hype he came to Western Australia with, according to WA Pacing Cup winning driver Gary Hall Jnr.
Despite being beaten in Friday night’s TABtouch-WA Pacing Cup (2936m) by stablemate Diego, Jumpingjackmac lost no admirers with his fast-finishing second.
In a campaign stretching back to May, Jumpingjackmac won five Free-For-All races and finished runner-up in the 4YO Classic, Golden Nugget and WA Pacing Cup.
Hall Jnr, who drove the five-year-old in four of his five wins and in the Fremantle Cup, said he was looking forward to Jumpingjackmac’s next campaign.
“In a sense he’s let us down a bit with the wraps we put on him early days,” Hall Jnr told TABradio.
“I felt like he was going to be our pin-up horse moving forward and he just hasn’t really come to the fore as yet.
“That run was a sign that we could’ve been right all along, and we were just 12 months early on him.
“I think next time in moving to a race like The Nullarbor, hopefully he can keep on the natural progression and really put his hand up.”
The son of Mach Three has compiled a formidable record of 16 wins and 14 placings in 43 starts and took his earnings beyond $450,000 after Friday’s feature.
Diego delivered Hall Jnr a ninth win in the WA Pacing Cup on Friday, leading all the way from barrier one.
It added to his win in the Group 2 J.P. Stratton Cup (2130m) and Pinjarra Cup (2692m) in the past year.
Hall Jnr said while the seven-year-old had good fortune with the barriers, he had become one of the state’s best pacers and could see some similarities to another Pacing Cup winner Chicago Bull.
“This time in he’s gone from strength-to-strength,” he said.
“Maddi was driving him and they had a great association with the Pinjarra Cup win and a few wins in Free-For-All after that.
“I started taking over his trackwork when a couple of the others fell by the wayside.
“His work out here three weeks ago I pulled up and looked at the clock and said to myself ‘Bully in his prime wouldn’t run any better than that and feel as good going to the line as he did’.”
Meanwhile, Pacing Cup runners Hampton Banner and Patronus Star have been nominated for this week's Media Guild Cup.
Tim Walker
Image - Hamilton Content Creators
WATCH - The 2023 WA Pacing Cup
https://www-harness-org-au.akamaized.net/wa/GPM27012304.mp4