Mighty Ronaldo joined the ranks of pacing’s royalty when he became an equine millionaire at Gloucester Park on Friday night, with his fighting victory in the Hoist Solutions Pace boosting his record to 72 starts for 16 wins and 22 placings for stakes of $1,000,363.
It was far from a stroll in the park for the WA-bred seven-year-old who had to overcome the outside barrier (No. 7) on the front line.
Mighty Ronaldo, trained by Justin Prentice and driven by Gary Hall jnr, was the $2.80 second fancy, with the speedy Golden Lode the $2.50 favourite from barrier six.
Chris Lewis dashed Little Darling ($4.20) straight to the front from the No. 2 barrier and the lead time was covered in a swift 36.4sec. after Golden Lode had made a spirited but unsuccessful bid for the lead.
Deni Roberts was forced to restrain Golden Lode back to the rear, leaving $31 chance Arma Xfactor in the breeze. Mighty Ronaldo settled down in ninth position before Hall urged him forward, out three wide, with about 950m to travel.
After a 27.8sec. third 400m section, Maddison Brown got Arma Xfactor to the front about 250m from home. Mighty Ronaldo appeared to be struggling, out three wide, on the home bend before he revealed great strength and spirit to get up in the final couple of strides to win by a neck from the gallant Arma Xfactor, rating a smart 1.55.4 over 2130m.
Little Darling refused to give in and was a nose away in third place, and $13 chance Rolling Fire, a stablemate of the winner, was an unlucky fifth. He was badly blocked for a clear passage and went to the line full of running.
Prentice explained the reason why Mighty Ronaldo appeared to be struggling on the home turn, saying: “Junior (Hall) said he was inclined to shift in a touch, so he nursed him around the corner. He said that he always felt that the horse had a bit left.
“Considering the fast lead time and the fact that the breeze horse was pulling, it might have appeared that Junior urged Mighty Ronaldo forward earlier than expected. But Little Darling is a good horse, and he didn’t want her to get away from him.
“Mighty Ronaldo will run in the August Cup next Friday night, and after that there are a couple of other races that could suit him, and then he will have a short let-up before getting ready for the WA Pacing Cup.”
By Ken Casellas