Raymond ‘Jack’ Smith has come to accept it. It doesn’t matter that his name is listed as the trainer, that Lyndall McIntyre is down as the owner, nor that Smith and his wife Maree are the ones who feed, walk and look after him. The reality now is that ‘The Feral’, is the people’s dog.
Smith was speaking after his kennel star Feral Franky - AKA The Feral - took out the Group 1 Vic Peters Classic at Wentworth Park on Saturday night, the first victory at the elite level for the young dog, a victory which took his career tally to 14 wins from 26 starts and already over $300,000 in prizemoney.
“Everybody seems to own a little bit of him. They all want to pat him and talk about him. He’s become the real people’s dog,” Smith said.
“I’ve only won one Group 1 before this. I won with Big Daddy Bee (the 2017 National Derby) but that was my only other one. Brad Hilly Billy ran second in the Golden Easter Egg, and that was the closest he got. Every trainer dreams of winning a Group 1 and I’ve been lucky to have won two now. I’m very privileged.”
As usual with Feral Franky, this was no jump to the front and race away victory. Slightly tardy at the start as always - although he has improved - The Feral was actually third into the first turn, was then checked there, but managed to maintain his spot and head into the back stalking the leaders, Kid Candle and Cawborne Marty.
He made his move soon after and swinging for home, shouldered his way between the pair, and raced away for the win in 29.80s.
“He’s uncanny,” Smith said. “He just seems to be able to cop a check and not lose any ground and he just falls on his feet and accelerates through. We have never had a dog like that before. They usually lose momentum and they have got to recover. He just has an unbelievable knack of doing it. I can’t put my finger on it.
“He’s just got a big motor and will to win and he has unbelievable track sense, and chases so hard. We’re just very lucky, Maree and I, that we have been able to train him.
“You’re always holding your breath with him (going into the first turn). Sometimes it’s a little bit better when he misses the kick, and just waits for the runs, but when he jumps as well as he has the last couple of weeks he has found himself in traffic. It’s a good trait jumping better, but thankfully he handles himself so well. He very rarely runs into anything. If he finds trouble it’s usually the other dogs, and him getting a bit of backwash from them.”
Smith was sent litter brothers Feral Franky and Freaky Franky after the pair were broken in. While Freaky was “nowhere near as strong” as his brother, there wasn’t a lot between them. There is now. Freaky Franky has just been sold and moved to Tasmania to race, while Feral Franky is the boom dog in NSW.
After winning the Group 3 Flying Amy Classic at Albion Park last month, there was a thought Smith would go back to Queensland for the rich Brisbane Cup, worth $250,000 to the winner. He opted instead to tackle the $75,000 to the winner Vic Peters Classic, as, being an age feature, he only has this opportunity to have a shot at it.
“Sure it would have been nice to go in the Brisbane Cup but you can’t do them both and we decided that this might be the best option,” Smith explained. “It also left me with a week to go to The Meadows and trial him for the upcoming Maturity.
“He ran 29.85s and he railed really hard, and that’s what he does. We were quite happy with it and we’ll go back (for heats this week) and see what happens.”
With his kennels in FORBES, travel is something Smith has become used to, regularly venturing the 380kms and back to race at Wentworth Park. This week he’ll add a few hours to the trip and head south instead of east.
“The trip to The Meadows is maybe a couple of hours longer than going to Wenty … it’s not much difference for me,” he said.
When asked if the driving became a burden, he replied: “It makes it a little bit easier when Feral is sitting behind me.”
