Fenyang">Fenyang faces the biggest test of his highly promising racing career at Richmond on Saturday but owner/trainer Anthony Cooper is confident his charge can step up.
The consistent sprinter, who has won 10 and placed seven other times in 20 races, goes for the first time competitively over 400m in the Blacktown Magic ARFC Club Stakes.
It will be a first outing in more than a month for Fenyang, who has produced some excellent performances on country tracks so far.
Cooper said a gritty second place at Goulburn last time out should have been the idea preparation for his exciting performer.
“He ran well over 350m at Goulburn last time out,” Cooper said. “That’s probably equal to a 400m at Richmond as it’s such a hard track there.
“He has run a strong 330m at Richmond, so I don’t think the extra 70m will hurt him.
“We’ve done some work with him since and I cannot see any problems with him.”
Fenyang, who will start from box three, has been a real star for Cooper since making his debut just over a year ago.
He faces a tough race this time out with the field including Grovebrook Boy (box one) and Christine Oldfield’s dangerous Derenger, who starts from box five.
“It will be a hard race,” Cooper said. “Grovebrook Boy is a very fast greyhound and will be hard to beat.
“It doesn’t matter which box Fenyang goes from as he seems to produce exactly the same rune ach time.
“He is jumping out of his skin and doing well.”
Cooper said 400m was the likely limit for Fenyang, who keeps his Woodstock-based owner/trainer on his toes.
“I don’t think he’ll manage the 500m as he uses his energy early in the race,” he said.
“He’s a bit of a crazy dog but then a lot of my dogs are mad mutts.
“I just try and do the best by them and get them racing well.”
The race is the ninth of ten on offer at Richmond, with action starting at 7.19pm.
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