No one knows the Dubbo Greyhound Club like president and walking form guide Shayne Stiff…so we enlisted the help of the big fella to find us some winners in Saturday’s semi-finals of the Ladbrokes Country Classic:
There’s only three chances. Zipping Ronaldo (3), Aston Costello (5) and Nangar Nellie (8), not necessarily in that order. Nangar Nellie (8) isn’t badly boxed in Box 8 even though you don’t want Box 8 at the 600 start at Dubbo. The outside is a disadvantage, but she goes great here. She was caught in the hustle and bustle in the heat last week but there’s not as much speed in this race, so I think she’s going to take no end of beating. Aston Costello (5) had his first start at Dubbo last week, he drove up on the day and had a walk around on the track, his first run was good, only a length and a bit behind Father Rick in a great heat. I think he'll take great improvement. He has to dodge Might Have Been out of the boxes but he can jump well on his night so he’s got a great chance. Zipping Ronaldo is probably the best boxed of all of them and he should find a good run off Box 3. His Richmond run and then his heat at Nowra was very good and he’ll take no end of beating as well. Even money for Nangar Nellie is certainly no overs but the winner will come from one of those three.
The problem with what Nangar Rocket did at the Gardens (slipping on the mat) is it’s not the first time he’s done it so I’ve got a question mark next to him. He’s had a spell since Christmas so was he too fresh? I don’t know, but surely the Barnes team will rectify that. I wouldn’t be rushing in to take even money. I’ve got the chances as Scintillate (1), Mortified (3), Rock It Reta (6) and Bella Una (7). Scintillate is from the all-conquering Tom Tzouvelis kennel, he’d never seen Dubbo until trialling before the first last week and he handled the track ok with splits of 9.19 and 35.05. I think he’ll take a lot of improvement and he’s come up with a gun draw. He does normally take a stride or two to go but he should be sitting in second or third early. The dog to beat in the race is definitely Mortified. She's done it all at Wenty Park, a 29.5 dog, she's produced quick runs at Dapto too. I’m not usually a fan of dogs who haven’t been around Dubbo but she’s probably boxed to lead and will be hard to beat. Terrible box for Bella Una in Box 7 as she wants the inside but Jack Smith knows how to put the polish on one and she broke the track record at Temora. She flies around Dubbo on her own but the box is ordinary. One I can tip at big value is Rock It Reta. Fair run behind Bella Una last week but the box is terrible and has done her no favours. If she can step and get a run to the first turn, she’s a rough chance at big odds. I can't step into Nangar Rocket at the evens so I’m looking at some value in the race.
Father Rick’s heat run was sensational and you wouldn’t have seen a better presented dog on the day. What a win. Never seen Dubbo before, drove up on the day and produced that. Good dogs don’t need trials on tracks and have a look at where his last few races were - The Meadows, Gosford, Albion Park and he flies around Dapto and Wenty Park. It’s a two dog race, Zipping Orlando (2) and Father Rick (4). I want to be on the dog in front so I’ve got Father Rick on top. The only spanner in the race is Agland Luai who flies at Dubbo for Jay Opetaia and can hit the lids running. Have a look at Zipping Orlando’s box draws lately - 7, 8, 4, 7, 6 – he’s desperate for the inside and there’s been merit in every one of his runs, he’s just been in the wrong spot at the wrong time. I think Minnie Finn will have him polished to the second. It will be a great race to watch and I wouldn’t be surprised if either of Father Rick or Zipping Orlando go close to the track record.
What Stiffy Says: The chances are Bell Mac Blazer (1), Zipping Caleb (2) and Palawa King (7). Bell Mac Blazer is locally trained by Brendan McHattan and he’ll be crossing all his fingers and toes because he’s got the gun draw. The dog trials alright around Dubbo, he looks the probable leader and Brendan will be hoping he can lead and run his 34.8 to hold on. But then you’ve got the two guns. Zipping Caleb (2) has the draw to sit on the fence and follow them through. He will get a clear run no matter what he does and looks very hard to beat. The box draw won’t make any difference to Palawa King because he’s still going to come out slow and hope for a clean run. He ran 34.8 last week and when Jack [Smith] trials him on his own, I’d run faster to the winning post the first time. But what he gets home in, dogs can’t run that. Jack will have him trained to perfection and I probably can’t go past him. At some stage he’s going to look the winner barring bad luck and if I had to put a bet on the race, I’d probably be backing Palawa King.
