Blues Bullish Ahead Of Albion Park Assault

A swag of NSW hopefuls will descend upon Albion Park on Thursday, January 4 for the running of the Group 1 Golden Sands final, and the deciders of the Group 2 Bogie Leigh Futurity and QLD Derby.

We’ve got the latest from the kennels ahead of a massive night of chasing in Brisbane:

I think she’s got a big chance but I wouldn’t have said that before the heats because we gave her one trial at Albion Park leading into the series and she went very ordinary. She trialled 30.77, stuffed the start and lost it on the first corner, but when she came out in the heat, she railed perfectly and led all the way in 30.07. She really exceeded expectations and now that the favourite is out of the final, I think she’s a big hope of winning. She’d never raced away from Casino and Grafton so she’ll be better from that experience and it’s not like she hasn’t shown ability. She’d won six of her last seven before the heats and probably should have won the only race she went under in as well. The mother was a good stayer too so she should be able to run the race out strong and if she gets home in the top three, I’ll seriously think about coming down to Sydney for the National Futurity at Wentworth Park. 

She's badly boxed and she hasn't been coming out like she can, but if she can follow the dog in the Box 5 [Kia Kaha] across, she's a rough chance. I don't think there's a lot of difference in ability between her and Nangar Lucy (who is a litter sister) but Lucy has a bit more early toe and is a bit stronger. She'll need a bit of luck.

I’m confident because he’s a real race dog. His heat run last week of 29.83 was really good from Box 5 and now he goes into Box 2 and he should be suited closer to the rail. He improved a tenth from heat to final last time we raced at Albion Park and he’s had a really similar week to that series. There’s not much between the field in first section, run home and overall times so it should be a great race. I don’t think there’s a weak link either but I tend to favour the dogs boxed one through five. I’m hoping my bloke is aided by the inside draw and can get around the first bend without too much trouble and if he’s anywhere near the front, I think he can go on with it. He’s unbeaten in his three starts at the track, he won a heat and final of the Group 3 Rising Star and then he copped a bit of pressure last week in the heats from some good local dogs and fended them off so he’s ready. This is his biggest test to date but I’m excited for it because it’s a great group of young dogs and over the next six to 12 months, some of these could lead a changing of the guard moment in the sprinting ranks.

He’s a handy little dog but it’s a pretty hot field so he’ll need a bit of luck early to make it into the money. Most of our dogs poke around in the Northern Rivers unless we get a good one and take it to Sydney or Brisbane. Party Mode could certainly hold his own in fifth grade company in Sydney but this race is of a different quality. Minnie Finn has three good ones in, Irinka Daniel is our blokes full brother and goes well, and that Morton is a hot dog and they’re talking about the owners knocking back a $200,000 offer for him. We’ll be there but we’re not expecting to win.

If he comes out like he did last week, he can go alright. He dislocated a toe in the semi-finals of the Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase and he just needed a bit of time to get over it because it was a bad injury. But we’ve got him right and now we just need to get some race conditioning into him now. I didn’t know he was eligible for the QLD Derby until I saw the age limit but he made it in and is one of the oldest dogs in it. He’d be the pick of our three but the dog from Melbourne, Weblec Wolf, might improve a lot too.

I think he’s still got a lot of improvement left in him. He’s such a highly strung dog so the travelling and the experience of going to different tracks does him a world of good. I think he’ll be a big improver from the heat run, and if he can find the fence, he’ll go well. He’s still a bit over the top and tends to run his races in the kennels though so early races suit him at his stage of his career.

If we can run a place, that’s the best we can hope for. He’s been a good, honest dog so far but there’s a few in this final with bigger motors than him. He might not be badly boxed out in Box 7 though because he can’t lead, so with any luck he can drop in and find a position near the fence. He surprised me in the heat because he was just a travelling companion for Palawa King and had never been to the track. If he was left alone, I think he can break 30 seconds but some of the others are a bit faster than that. Let’s hope we go around safe and sound and get another crack at Wenty Park in the National Derby in a few weeks.

Box 8 doesn’t help because he’s desperate for the fence but he’s got a lot of ability. He’s a big 39kg dog that can’t stop and start though so he just needs to keep rolling and I reckon Albion Park might suit him because it’s the best and fairest track in Australia. I wanted to take him away because he’s still only a young dog with a bit to learn and I’ve got plans to take him back to Brisbane this year for more races.

He’s going really well at the moment, and it will all come down to how well he gets out of the boxes. He’s been at the top of his game for two months and the worry is he might peak and lose a few lengths, but he’s showing nothing to indicate that might happen yet. We haven’t done anything different with him the last little while but he’s been racing so well and he’s probably a four of five length better dog than what he was 12 months ago. If he’s found a pool of youth in the paddock somewhere, I wish he’d give me some. I think it’s a ‘$4 the field’ sort of race and luck is going to play a big part. Box 3 is fine and he’s a bit more familiar with the track now so hopefully he can get out and run a good first section to put himself in the race.

I give her a decent chance. I thought she might be a bit soft in the heats because she missed a run the week earlier when they called the meeting off but she went great. If she can come out like she has been and is untouched, she’ll be hard to catch. Most of the dogs in the final are fourth and fifth graders so there’s not much between the lot. She’s only been raced sparingly over the last 12 months with injury and seasons and things and I’ve only had her a few months but she arrived in great order from John and Jane Carruthers. She had a good record, she was a ready-made race dog, fit and sound and I’ve just fed her and taken her to the races.

Nangar Lucy has won out of Box 8 a couple of times but she does tend to head left straight away. Hopefully they all go left and she can go straight and loop them. I think she's the better of our two hopes on Thursday night. I always thought she'd run on so the middle distance is her caper at the moment. This will be her third 600m race and hopefully she can improve tonight. There's not a lot between all of them so I think whatever leads might win.