With $3 million between them and a previous win in this race each, two nearly nine-year-olds have never raced better and enter this week’s Group 1 $450,000 WA Pacing Cup (2536m) at Gloucester Park as the top seeds.

Magnificent Storm and Minstrel have established one of the longest rivalries in WA harness racing’s modern era but due to respective injuries, the duo have only met 17 times, inclusive of their first in January 2021.

The scorecard reads six to two in Magnificent Storm’s favour for those meetings and the pair have clashed in three editions of the cup, with ‘Stormy’ finishing ahead in all.

In 2022, Magnificent Storm (fourth) and Minstrel (fifth) chased home Wildwest, while the pair were fourth and seventh behind Diego in 2023’s January edition.

Magnificent Storm scored a runaway triumph in November of 2023 when leaving Minstrel a distant third, before Minstrel clinched his own glory last year with his long-time sparring partner a notable absentee.

Their most recent bout arose on November 28 when Magnificent Storm began brilliantly to zoom past Minstrel and obtain the early lead.

However, Minstrel immediately extricated and park outside his chief foe for the duration of the J P Stratton Cup (2536m).

Showing superior stamina, Minstrel outstayed Magnificent Storm in a brutal 1:54.7 mile rate, with the latter wilting late to be fourth.

But a consensus determined that Ray Williams’ gelding was not quite at full fitness and the veteran trainer backed up his prized steed in last Friday’s Navy Cup (2130m) with dramatic effect.

The son of American Ideal roared to the lead and did not stop, steaming away for a 19m triumph in a rate of 1:53.6, just one second outside the track record.

“He went really well and he’s shown me no signs of anything but good since,” Williams said.

“He jogged this morning (Monday) and was really keen. He’s a gross horse who thrives on work, so I’ll gallop him tomorrow and Wednesday.

“This is the one we’ve been planning for all along and in the stable, he’s very bright, so he’s picked up a fair bit.

“When you’ve got him right, he’s so fast.”

His reinsman, Aiden De Campo, who drove Grumpee to win at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon, felt a noticeable shift in Magnificent Storm’s demeanour in the recent success.

“I knew last week (in the Stratton Cup) we were just getting better; he just hadn’t had a hard run for a while,” De Campo said.

“In the warm-up (of the Navy Cup), he felt like a different horse, and I think he’ll improve again this week.”

De Campo trails Michael Young by seven wins on the State’s leading trainer table with just three weeks remaining.

Young prepares Penny Black who, alongside Little Darling, is one of two mares in Friday’s event.