Northern Rivers trainer Dean Turley journeys down to Maitland this afternoon with nine runners, including Miss Piggy and Air Time who line-up in the EM Business Houses Challenge Final (race eight, 450m).
Turley trains a team of 30 out of his Codrington-based kennels - a tiny suburb 20-25 minutes out of Lismore and Casino - that boasts a population of less than 100.
Last week, Turley’s decision to venture down to the Hunter Valley circuit proved to be a fruitful one, landing a winning double courtesy of Miss Piggy and Air Time, the pair ultra-impressive at their Maitland debuts, running 24.98 and 25.43 respectively.
Miss Piggy’s sizzling 24.98 victory set the time-standard for the meeting, while Air Time charged home along the rails for a stirring win running 25.43, with Turley quietly confident both runners can improve leading into Thursday’s quality decider.
“I got home at about 3am on the Friday morning but that’s the life of a greyhound trainer isn’t it – the trip away was definitely worth it,” Turley said.
“Last week was the first time I’d ever raced at Maitland – I’d always been impressed with that I’d seen on TV and was keen to get down there and give the dogs a chance on a big one-turn track – especially before the real hot weather begins to set in.
“Some of the dogs were getting out-graded around Casino and Lismore and the trip away can sometimes sharpen them up a bit. It’s easy to go sour racing on the same tracks all the time and I have no doubt when they return to Lismore and Casino in the coming weeks they’ll be better for the experience.
“I haven’t had Miss Piggy for all that long, about three or four months now. Of all my runners last week I thought she’d go the best and she did – I had her in a race at Grafton back in August and she won very well at her first go there so I knew then I had a dog that went very well first look.
“I’d say Air Time is actually faster than Miss Piggy, he’s a dog that needs thing his own way early on in his races, if he does than you’ll see the best of him. His heat win coming from way back last week was very good and he’ll get a lot of confidence from that.”
Miss Piggy has drawn box two for today's final while Air Time will exit box four, with Turley leaning the way of Miss Piggy with the benefit of the better draw.
“It’s a very good race but of my two I’d lean Missy Piggy’s way purely because of the draw, swap them around and I’d go Air Time ahead of her,” he said.
“I’m really keen to get Air Time to Wentworth Park on a Wednesday soon – the 400s at Casino and Lismore don’t suit him off the bend starts and he seemed to really appreciate the long straight and room to move at Maitland. I’ve got no doubt he can pick up a race in town with the right draw.
“Hopefully we can have some more joy on Thursday – I don’t take things too seriously – we’ve got some decent chances with some luck in running.”
