Ike McCorkindale may not have the resume of some of his more credentialled rivals on Saturday night, but that hasn’t stopped him dreaming about a maiden group race win in the Evans & Son Ladies Bracelet final.
The 28-year-old will rug up Wincey Bale ahead of the $25,000 feature before walking to the boxes alongside the likes of Peter Lagogiane, Jodie Lord, Syd Swain and Minnie Finn.
“Those trainers obviously know what they’re doing with a dog, but I’m not intimidated by coming up against them all, I’m just excited more than anything,” McCorkindale said.
“It means I’m heading in the right direction and if I could knock them off, it’d be unreal to be honest.”
Wincey Bale qualified for the Group 3 decider after flying home in her heat behind National Futurity runner-up and Golden Easter Egg finalist, Taormina.
Her time of 29.69 a new track and trip PB for the regally bred daughter of Feral Franky x Fanta Bale.
“I was really impressed [with the run], she jumped pretty well but got caught up in the ruck a bit. Once she found her feet though, she powered to the line,” McCorkindale said.
“The Wednesday before the heats, she almost broke the track record at Temora over the 570m so I knew she’d be strong late. Bella Una has the record at 32.33 and ‘Wincey’ went 32.42 and that was just her second go over the distance.
“She’s always been a very clean winded dog, and she seems to thrive on the quick back up so I had some confidence going into the heats. I was very shocked when I saw her odds though…I think she even blew out to $40 before the race.”
Her price in Saturday’s final sure to be skinnier after drawing Box 1 in a race chock-full of quality.
“I’m happy about the red even though she won’t have the early toe of those outside her…but if there’s any trouble and she gets some luck, she’s going to be hard to beat,” McCorkindale added.
“The dogs in 2, 3, 4 and 5 can all go pretty good early. I think She’s That Girl might want to move up the track a bit while Taormina wants the fence so that will be interesting. Ferrero Girl could surprise a few as well because she went 5.39 to the mark in the heats.”
The Young-based McCorkindale hopeful his former Brendan Wheeler-owned prospect can claim the highly sought-after Bracelet, a decade after the Wheeler family won the race with Elfen Bale.
“It’d be unreal to win a race like this. It’s the first group race I’ve been in and it’d be great to knock one off early,” he said.
Ike McCorkindale alongside Wincey Bale ahead of the Ladies Bracelet heats
“I know the Wheeler’s have won it before and Brendan and Jan are such great people who have helped me so much. They’re feeding me decent enough dogs to go in these good races and I’ve learned so much off them already, now I’m just trying to replicate it.”
“I’ve only been training properly for two years but after meeting Brendan, we struck up a friendship and he’s really helped me understand the animal more and given me the confidence to prepare them better.”
“I still have a fulltime job running my electrical and solar panel business so the dogs are a hobby…but I’d love to have the quality to race greyhounds fulltime one day.”
The Group 3 Evans & Son Ladies Bracelet, worth $25,000 to the winner, will be run in Race 7 this Saturday night at Wentworth Park.
