The girls are set to glow in the heats of the 2023 Ladbrokes National Futurity, with the road to Group 1 glory beginning this Friday night at Wentworth Park.
Four heats of bitches whelped on or after October 1, 2020 will hit the track for the 60th running of the age-restricted classic – with connections hoping to follow in the footsteps of recent winners Idolize (2022), Blue Sky Riot (2018) and Striker Light (2017).
In the first heat of the night, Jodie and Andy Lord will send out raging hot race favourite Punter’s Bandit, with the duo hopeful of adding to their lone Futurity win in 2004.
“She’s back at her home track where she loves to race and she’s one of the oldest in the race which should help. Me and Jodie were just talking about how good she’s done so far. She’s only had 20 odd starts and won nearly $90,000 which is a great effort for a young bitch,” Andy Lord said.
“It’d be beautiful to try and win this race before she steps up in distance. I won the Futurity a long time ago with a bitch called Nulkaba Lass and these age-restricted races mean a lot. You race the best dogs in Australia and if you can take it out, it can mean big things for the dog later in life,” he said.
In Punter’s Bandit’s case, a potential breeding career could beckon.
“If you win this race and you’re a pup seller, everyone will want to buy pups out of the bitch. Years ago, people used to pray to god that their bitches would come on season at the right time so the pups would be Derby and Futurity age, I mean people were literally praying for their pups to be born after the whelping cut-off date,” Lord said.
“Age restricted races are hard to win because everyone wants to part of them. I’ll always try to race dogs in them if they are eligible because I love these races. We could have looked at the Paws Of Thunder for Punter’s Bandit but we’ve already got She’s A Pearl and Good Odds Emma in that race who are great chances,” he added.
Punter’s Bandit enters the series fresh off her recent G2 Gosford Gold Cup victory on January 3.
The second of four heats features Victorian visitors Ava Blazer for Jeff Britton and Trevor’s Gift for Emily Azzopardi, with the John Miles-trained Sister Sticker looking like the best of the local hopes.
“She [Sister Sticker] won well at Maitland the other night and got out a bit better than she normally does so she’s ready to go. I think she’ll be suited to 520m racing and she’s experienced, we’ve taken our time to work her up to the trip because you can’t just go crash, bang and throw them in until they’re ready,” Miles said.
Less than two years ago, Miles was overseeing the career of Wentworth Park 280m track record holder and 28-time winner Laurie’s Flyer.
The short course specialist giving Miles plenty of thrills, but he admits he is now looking forward to the challenges of 520m racing.
“I’m pretty excited to be involved in a race like this. Our dogs have always been short course chasers and we haven’t had a lot of dogs that can run 520m. Sister Sticker is one that can and we’ve never had a runner in the Futurity so hopefully we get a bit of luck and I think a run of 30 flat or better isn’t beyond her,” Miles said.
Sister Sticker has won eight of her 19 career starts but is yet to win at Wentworth Park in three unlucky attempts.
In Heat 3, Gosford Gold Cup runner up Mia She’s Fast looks a likely favourite from Box 7 for Frank Hurst.
But an interstate raider could prove to be the fly in the ointment, with Baby Jaycee for Robert ‘Bobby’ Douglas bringing superb form lines to the contest.
“I’m not happy with the draw but Baby Jaycee is a pretty good bitch. We’ve targeted the race for her and she ran second in the Group 2 Laurels, which is another age-restricted race down here in Victoria, so she’s got class,” Douglas said.
“She just chases and if she gets into a two-dog war, she doesn’t surrender, she’s got real X-factor. For example, El Dorado made the Melbourne Cup final and ran in The Phoenix but when he ran into her at the top of the straight at Sandown last year, she didn’t give an inch and beat him a lip. If something comes at her, she finds a bit extra,” he added.
Baby Jaycee, a winner of 12 races from 22 starts and by Group 1 placegetter Bernardo, will be aiming to give Douglas his biggest victory at Wentworth Park since taking out the 2002 Golden Easter Egg with Carlisle Jack.
“We won the Egg with [Carlisle] Jack and I see a lot of him in this girl. She’s the best bitch I’ve had and even though there’s not much of her, she’s suited racing against her own sex. In her only look at Wenty she didn’t handle the track that well and still ran 29.9 so I think she’ll improve Friday night,” Douglas said.
“We’ll travel up on the day and that’s no worry, she’d drive to Darwin if we had to. We will have to race the locals on their own dung hill so they’ve got an advantage there but I’m confident in her chances,” he said.
South Coast trainer Chris O’Brien has never had a runner in the National Futurity, but in Heat 4 he’ll rug up one of the series favourites in Mortified.
“She’s probably not in a bad heat now that there’s only seven in it but I’m not real keen on Box 8. When I slipped her at Dapto recently her first section was unbelievable, and her overall time was really good so she’s putting it all together at the right time,” O’Brien said.
Mortified burst onto the scene in the back half of 2022, winning the Dapto Regional Final of the Million Dollar Chase before finishing third in the MDC Consolation race behind Zipping Maserati.
“I reckon she’s going even better than she was last year. She’s coming back from that toe injury she got at Wagga so she had some time off but I haven’t overdone it with her, I’ve been building her up slowly and I think she’s had the perfect amount of time to regain her fitness,” O’Brien said.
“I just hope she can perform well because if she does, it’s going to look fantastic on her CV isn’t it. It opens up doors for her breeding prospects and it’s just a great race to be part of,” he added.
The first and second greyhounds across the line in each of the four heats will progress to next Saturday night’s (January 21) Ladbrokes National Futurity final.
The 2022 Ladbrokes National Futurity was won by Idolize for Peter Presutto.
GRNSW will also be hosting full showcase coverage of the Wentworth Park meeting on January 13 from 7pm AEDT when the Heats of the Group 1 Ladbrokes National Derby and the Group 1 Ladbrokes National Futurity will be run.
All you need to do is head over to thedogs.com.au for all the action, or you can also catch the coverage live on Facebook and You Tube.
