"If he comes out like he did in his heat they won't be beating him,'' trainer Darren Russell said of Bago Bye Bye's prospects in Thursday night's 710m Albion Park Gold Cup.
Trained in Queensland by Russell for Wauchope breeder Greg Watts, Bago Bye Bye led throughout and made a one act affair of his heat, comfortably beating Sydney star Poco Dorado in 41.47sec.
Bago Bluff, also trained by Russell and owned by Watts, but unrelated to Bago Bye Bye, won his heat in 41.84.
Bago Bluff has drawn the prized rails box in the final of the $150,000 event while Bago Bye Bye has box six.
"I would have preferred the boxes of my two dogs reversed but to win Bago Bye Bye should only have to begin cleanly and hold out Poco Dorado, who has drawn seven, to the first corner.
"When he won his heat Bago Bye Bye ran home in 13.30 and I believe the only dog to have ever gone faster was Tornado Tears at his best.
"I trained Oxley Ruby, the dam of Bago Bluff, to win a few races for Alwyn Watts, the father of my current dog's owner.
"Bago Bluff should be capable of improving on his heat time because he had only a handful of long-distance races before that race.''
Although Darren Russell has become established as a leading Queensland trainer since heading north 23 years ago, he learned his craft around the streets of Balmain.
"As a kid I used to exercise dogs for Bobby Riley, a successful trainer based in that suburb, while my brother Andrew and I trained winners while we were living in Sydney,'' Russell said.
xxxx
FRANK Hurst's super siblings Good Odds BUDDY, Good Odds Harada and Good Odds Meghan, won't be returning to Albion Park for the $250,000 Brisbane Cup heats on June 27.
They acquitted themselves well enough in last Thursday's Flying Amy Classic heats, with Harada runner-up to Wildash Jakey, Meghan minor placegetter behind Feral Franky, and BUDDY finishing fifth to Black Opium in near track record time.
But Hurst has decided to revert to his original plan and aim his trio for the July 6 heats of the Vic Peters Classic for dogs and the Peter Mosman Opal for bitches.
Between them Hurst's youngsters, offspring of phenomenal brood bitch Solar Pak, have won 29 and registered 29 placings from just 75 starts.
xxxx
SURPRISE package of Saturday night's heats of the NSW Bred Stayers' Series was the gritty performance of Sunlit Conswala, who was sent out as a $61 chance before finishing third to Two Times Twice and Show Me Confetti.
Two Times Twice went into the race with 23 wins while Show Me Confetti had recorded a win and two placings from three earlier WP 720m assignments.
But Sunlit Conswala, trained by Julie and Peter French at San Isidore, near Wagga, ran the race of her life for a strong finishing third, beaten five lengths, to qualify for Saturday night's final.
"I threw her in at the deep end as she had never previously seen Wentworth Park or been tested beyond a sprint distance,'' Peter French said.
"While you can never be sure if a dog will run a strong 720m I was fairly confident Sunlit Conswala would make a stayer.''
French should know as he trained her dam Sunlit Babe to win 13 races and also prepared Sunlit Bird, the mother of Sunlit Babe, for a dozen victories.
* Photo Michael McInally/Racing Queensland
