Just A "Baby", But What's Next For Flying Ricciardo?

Mention the TAB Million Dollar Chase, and trainer Kristy Sultana asks you to do something her dog, and his namesake, never do.

“Just slow down. Slow down,” Kristy said when the subject arose about her brilliant young sprinter Flying Ricciardo - who was named after Australian Formula 1 ace, Daniel Ricciardo - contesting the rich event.

“We just take it day by day and see what happens.

“Of course it is (on the radar) but you know there's a lot of good dogs out there, and like I said before he's only a baby, so we'll just take each day by day and see what happens.”

She is correct, at just 20 months old, Flying Ricciardo is a baby, and would be taking on the country’s elite Chasers in the world’s richest greyhound race, but as he showed on Friday night in the final of the Group 2 Black Top at Newcastle’s Ladbrokes Gardens circuit, he looks ready.

Just two weeks earlier, the son of Barcia Bale and Megladoon, bought for just $7,500 at the 2019 Gold Muzzle Auction as a six month old pup, was contesting fifth grade races. But drawing a line through the quote of legendary Manchester United manager Matt Busby: “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough,” Kristy - who also owns the dog - decided to give the dog a shot in top company.

“You know, we thought we were probably jumping the gun a little bit but we couldn't hold him back, so we had to give it a go,” Kristy said of the step up to race the best in the Black Top. “We said look, he's running the times, he’s showing impeccable speed. We just couldn't hold him back so why not give it a go and we're here.”

His career only began back in May when he announced his arrival with a track record run at Bulli over the 340m trip. Friday’s win was his 10th from just 12 starts, with the other two starts being second placings when he uncharacteristically was slow to jump from the boxes.

The Black Top was a family success for the Sultanas. Kristy’s sister Michelle trained the second placegetter Left Unsaid, while their father Sam, a stalwart of the industry, was as always on hand, and boxed the winner.

While Kristy will allow it to sink in before plotting where the dog considered the next big thing in NSW greyhound racing will go, the TAB Million Dollar Chase gets underway on Tuesday with four heats at Gosford to kick start the series, with the club hosting their regional final the following week.

Placegetters in the regional finals of the series will qualify for eight semi-finals at Wentworth Park on October 9 with those winners sailing into the $1 million to the winner final at headquarters on October 16.