Hunger Strike making a late bid

Queensland-bred filly Hunger Strike will be making a late bid to gain a start in the $150,000 WA Oaks on Friday week by winning the $21,000 The Chase On Seven Oaks Prelude over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

The winner of the race will be guaranteed a start in the rich final, and Hunger Strike has the credentials to be a major player on Friday night when she begins from the No. 4 barrier and will be driven by Chris Lewis for trainer Nathan Turvey.

Hunger Strike has raced 30 times for six wins, 14 placings and $141,596 in prizemoney. She has not raced since August 16 when she began from barrier three on the back line and fought on to finish fifth behind Arrive in the group 1 Qbred Triad final over 2138m at Albion Park. A week earlier in a heat of the Triad, Hunger Strike led early and then raced three back on the pegs before finishing second to the brilliant Cool And Classy.

Hunger Strike gave a sample of her class in the 2024 winter when she won the $156,000 group 1 Brisbane Sales Graduation final for two-year-olds at Albion Park on July 13 when she was beaten for early speed from the No. 1 barrier, raced three wide in the middle stages and went on to win by 4m from Maywyns Mighty Mac, a gelding, with a colt Heza Maywyn three lengths farther back in third place.

A week earlier, Hunger Strike won a heat by four lengths of this 1660m event, rating 1.54.9. Her three wins this year included a smart three-length victory in 1.53.3 over 1609m at Newcastle.

Hunger Strike will need to be close to top to win on Friday when she will surely receive strong opposition from the polemarker Kinki, who is trained by Greg and Skye Bond and is the winner of four races from twelve starts. Kinki will be making her first appearance for ten and a half weeks, but Deni Roberts is sure to use the filly's excellent gate speed to advantage.

The Bonds will also be represented by the freewheeling Delulu, who will be driven by Aiden De Campo from barrier seven.

An interesting runner will be Ill Be Gone, a winner at four of her ten starts who will be making her WA debut for trainer-reinsman Gary Hall Jnr from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line. Ill Be Gone will be having her first start since she enjoyed the ideal one-out, one-back position when she finished solidly to win at a 1.55.8 rate over 1609m at Kilmore on August 14.

Turvey has a handy second-string runner in Akoya Pearl, who has had seven starts for three wins, with her past two outings producing solid victories over 2185m at Pinjarra. Turvey has engaged Jocelyn Young to drive the filly.

Most of the runners in Friday night's event have winning prospects, and they include the Mike Reed-trained Ruby Lou, a winner of six races who will start from the inside of the back line for reinsman Shannon Suvaljko.