Pacing: Mighty Ronaldo claims Manea Classic at a sparse Donaldson Park

Justin Prentice’s five-star talent Mighty Ronaldo added another feature victory to his impressive collection last Wednesday at Donaldson Park.

Despite a reduced field of four, “Ronnie” and driver Emily Suvaljko were too slick for their rivals, edging out stablemate El Chema by 3.9m in the $30,000 Manea Classic (2100m).

He might have been three back on the pegs at the bell, however the Prentice stable product purred home in the closing stages with ease.

It was a finish worthy of a big crowd’s admiration — however sadly, you could count the number of people watching on course.

On Friday at Gloucester Park, underrated four-year-old Alcopony gunned down fancies when an upset winner for veteran trainer Kevin Keys and young reinsman Mitchell Miller in the $30,000 Warwick Pace (2130m).

Alcopony, starting at $18.30, rated 1:55.2 as he charged bravely on the outside to score by a neck from $1.30 favourite Street Hawk while Ifeel Sikdarl ($5.50) finished 2m back in third place.

Keys, 74, bred and also part-owns Alcopony, who was named after 1920s American gangster Al Capone. “He keeps improving and I’ll set him for good races,” Keys said.

“I was confident he’d be hard to beat tonight, if securing a good run.

“I thought the in-form runners would put pressure on each other up front of the field. That’s the way it turned out, with Alcopony waiting back in fourth position. “He was driven the perfect race by an underestimated reinsman, Mitchell Miller.

“Alcopony has been impressive and trouble-free since was a youngster.”