While perhaps some may have been scared off by the presence of star Chaser Feral Franky, not Glen McKinley. He now sees it for what it is and his two greyhounds each have a one in two shot of reaching the TAB Million Dollar Chase semi-finals.
When nominations closed for the opening round of the event at Gunnedah this Saturday, only nine dogs were nominated, meaning instead of it being a heat, it will in fact be a prelude for the final the following Sunday, with all eight starters advancing to the final. From there, the first four win their way through to the semi-finals at Wentworth Park on October 11.
It’s thought that after Feral Franky (pictured) shattered the track record in a trial last Saturday, clocking 29.82s - 0.37s inside the record of Myrniong Master - it may have led to trainers deciding to bypass the Gunnedah event and try their luck at one of the other 13 regional venues.
But not McKinley, who will make the five and half hour trek from his base at Agnes Banks for Saturday’s race.
“There’s four opportunities to get into the semi-finals at Wentworth Park, and while you’d normally have a couple of heats, now we’ve got four chances out of just eight dogs. That’s pretty good odds,” McKinley said.
“We had a dog in the semi-finals of the Million Dollar Chase last year, Canya Ayden, and it was very exciting just to have a dog down there on that night. The atmosphere was amazing.
“Obviously Feral Franky is a standout at Gunnedah, but both of those dogs we’ve got in, China O’Brien and Pop’s Paradise go OK. She (China O’Brien) ran 29.65s at Wentworth Park about three or four starts ago. She’s very young and has only won two races but she has got a motor, so we thought we’d put her in because she can run.”
Neither of McKinley’s dogs have trialled at Gunnedah but as he points out, Saturday’s race is now effectively a trial for the following week’s Regional Final.
“We thought we would go to Gunnedah because it was the first lot of heats and then we could have the opportunity if we don’t make it through, to go to Dubbo for instance,” he explained.
“They have both been the type of dog who have gone extremely well first up on tracks, but this week we got lucky, because all being well and they come through injury free, then take their place in the final the following week, then they should both be better for the experience.
“As soon as they announced Feral Franky, well he’s possibly scared a lot of people off, but we just see it as a great opportunity to be part of this event.
“It’s very exciting the whole concept and it’s good to see greyhound racing in this state really going ahead.”
McKinley, who used to train thoroughbreds in NEW ZEALAND, raced smart Chaser Royal Turbo a couple of years back and the success of that dog has led to him expanding his kennel.
“Royal Turbo was a very good dog who won 16 at Wentworth Park and he’s the reason we’ve got all these dogs now. He won some good prizemoney and we reinvested that into other dogs.
“We’ve got 16 in the kennel now, and we’re taking 10 up to Gunnedah on Saturday to race.
Apart from Feral Franky who has drawn box seven, the field also features Peter Carr’s pair Jimmy Casey and Charlie Casey. Each trialled at Gunnedah last week, Charlie clocking 29.99s and Jimmy 30.19s.
Dubbo trainer Charmaine Roberts has two in the field, Muzza Keeping and Squiggle Keeping, while local trainer Bill Marmara will start Come on Duchess.
The draw: 1 China O’Brien 2 Jimmy Casey 3 Come On Duchess 4 Charlie Casey 5 Pop’s Paradise 6 Muzza Keeping 7 Feral Franky 8 Squiggle Keeping Reserve Peanut Brittle.
