Exciting newcomer Vital Equalizer should prove to be the bet of the night at Gloucester Park tomorrow night by outpacing his rivals in the 1700m Duratec Pace for three-year-olds.

He made a brilliant Australian debut at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon when he strolled to an effortless victory over Thehorsereilly and Ideas Man, rating 1.58.8 over 2170m.

Vital Equalizer, who is trained at Forrestdale by Greg and Skye Bond, revealed sparkling early speed to burst straight to the front and he was untroubled to set the pace and win, eased down, by more than three lengths.

Colin Brown spoke enthusiastically about the son of Courage Under Fire, saying: “He possesses high speed and I didn’t push him out. He could have really exploded.”

Vital Equalizer will start from the No. 4 barrier on Friday night and he possesses such high speed that Brown should send him straight to the front.

Keen followers of New Zealand form will be keen to invest heavily on Vital Equalizer after being staggered by his two outstanding performances at his only two starts in that country where he raced under the name of Equalizer and was trained by Mark Purdon. Both runs were exceptional and quite amazing.

He made his debut over 1950m at Addington on December 2 when he settled down in last position in a field of 12. He was 11th with a lap to travel and equal last on the home turn before he was switched out eight wide by Grant Payne and thundered home to finish second to Lulli Midfrew at a 1.58.6 rate.

Then, at his second start, on December 11, he gave another phenomenal performance on the grass track at Methven. He started from barrier ten in a 2300m event and Blair Orange had him in sixth position, four back on the pegs at the bell before he was shuffled back to last in the field of 13 with 700m to travel.

Vital Equalizer was still last at the 400m mark when he began a four-wide move. He then went ten wide on the home turn and flew down the outside of the track to burst to the front 60m from the post. Orange then eased him down and he won by more than a length from Walden Bury.

Most punters will consider the battle for the minor placings will develop into a contest between Soho Daytona, Black Aquila, Livelong And Prosper, Soho Indianapolis and Polak.

Soho Daytona, trained at Northam by Glenn Elliott, is in splendid form. He has had six starts this season for three wins, two seconds and a third after winning twice from five starts as a two-year-old. He hit a wheel and broke 450m after the start and was last at the bell before finishing strongly to be second to star three-year-old Gracias Para Nada over 2100m at Gloucester Park last Friday week.

He covered a lot of extra ground before finishing powerfully to win at Northam at his previous start.

Black Aquila, trained by Gary Hall sen. and the winner of the WA Sales Classic for two-year-old colts and geldings last April, has caught the eye with fast-finishing thirds behind stablemate Gracias Para Nada at his past two outings.

Livelong And Prosper, Soho Indianapolis and Polak are all racing with commendable spirit. The Peter Anderson-trained Livelong And Prosper steps up quite a deal in class after winning at his first two Australian appearances last month.

Livelong And Prosper worked hard in the breeze before beating Cheerful Dame at a 1.59.6 rate over 2150m at Harvey and then rated only 2.5.2 when he beat Ti Amo Franco and Tom Henry over 2242m at Narrogin.

Courtesy of Ken Casellas.