After a drive of more than 19 hours to reach the track Casino trainer Peter SIMPSON has deservedly qualified with two finalists in Tuesday night’s $25,000-to-the-winner Group 3 Townsville Cup.
Peter, who has Pace Ventura in box four and Glamour Row in five, considers two Queenslanders, the fastest heat winner Are Ate and the Tony Brett-trained Exhibitionist, as the greyhounds to beat.
“It is an evenly matched field but Are Ate was a very impressive winner while Exhibitionist had never seen the track before finishing a close second in his heat,’’ SIMPSON said.
“And Tony Brett is a master trainer, always hard to toss in big races.
“The unplaced prizemoney of $500 might just about cover my petrol money but I didn’t come here to run unplaced and I give both my dogs a strong chance of bringing
the cup back to the great state of NSW, with Pace Ventura my most likely winner.
“He showed terrific speed in his heat last Tuesday and both he and Glamour Row have thrived up in Townsville.
“I’ve been taking them each morning to Bluewater Beach, about 20 minutes from the greyhound track, and it is perfect for conditioning greyhounds.
“It is flat as a tack and there is never anyone there so you can gallop your dogs along the beach or swim them, whatever you prefer.’’
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Monster Storm has trialled brilliantly at Nowra as he attempts to score his 15th win from his past 18 starts in race eight there on Monday.
Monster Storm, who has box three, trialled over the 365m course at Nowra on August 15 and clocked a slick 20.82, posting a mere one tenth of a second outside the first split record.
“The track had been turned over 48 hours before Monster Storm trialled so it was on the slow side and we were very pleased with his time,’’ Michael Galea, whose father Lewis trains the dog, said.
Michael won over 400m at Bulli on Wednesday in a fast 22.59 with Mighty Hurricane, who had received a month’s suspension for marring at his previous start at Maitland.
“He was in front at Maitland but turned his head when another dog ran up to him," Galea junior said.
"I don’t think he likes being over-taken."
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Terry Smith whelped and reared Northern Rivers trainer Reg Gardoll’s 2005 Group 1 Vic Peters Classic winner Watch The Web but sold the top class speedster as a pup.
So nobody was more delighted to win by 11 lengths at Maitland last week in a fast 22.56 with the Terry and Anita Smith-owned No Issues than Gardoll, who also trains that greyhound.
“Anita has not been enjoying the best of health and considering she and Terry sold Watch The Web, who became my best greyhound, I’m rapt they have a smart one of their own,’’ Gardoll said.
“No Issues is out of a bitch called Keira’s Lucky, who is a sister to Watch The Web.
“While No Issues doesn’t always come out of the boxes brilliantly he is capable of pinging the lids and I hope to have him down to Wentworth Park shortly.’
