It was only six months ago that Rob Tyler thought his talented bitch Zipping Truvy may never race again. Instead, next week she will line up for what would be a thoroughly deserved feature race victory should she succeed, in the $25,000 Ladbrokes Newcastle Cup.
Amid COVID-19 Tyler and owner Marty Hallinan sent Zipping Truvy to Victoria for a crack at the Sandown Cup, but, stepping up from middle-distance racing to have her first run over 700m, Zipping Truvy trailed in the field and something was clearly amiss.
“It was the rectus abdominis muscle,” Tyler explained. “It runs from under rib cage, right down to the groin. It’s like a rubber band, and pretty much what happens as the dog gallops the band flexes, it expands and then contracts … she had split it.
“It was touch and go if she would ever race again.”
Tyler persisted and took his time with Zipping Truvy and she returned in a heat of the TAB Million Dollar Chase at Bathurst on September 7. She produced an amazing run to rattle home and finish second beaten just 1¾ lengths by Flying Ricciardo.
“She’s probably one of the hardest dogs I’ve ever had to train, she’s had so many injuries,” Tyler said. “It is frustrating without doubt because you know what she is capable of.
“The problem with Truvy is, she goes flat out, she knows only one pace. You need to put a jockey on her to hold her back. But she’s a very good bitch.
“To come back in that first run and only be beaten a 1¾ lengths and her run home everyone was saying was the fastest ever run up there. For a bitch to be able to do that, and then extend it to 700m, that was always my concern but until you put them over it, you’re not sure if they are going to run it.
“The silly part is if it was a normal $2000 race, she wouldn’t have been going around today, she was that underdone. But I rang Marty and said do you want to have a throw at the stumps or not? We decided to have a crack at Newcastle and it’s paid off.”
Zipping Truvy was fifth of the six dog field out the straight the first time and giving the leaders Here’s Tears and Stanley Road five or six lengths up the back. But she showed her usual tenacity and stormed past the pair to win in 42.08s.
“What shocked me was I couldn’t believe she could run both of those dogs down. Here’s Tears is the Sydney Cup winner,” Tyler said.
“I’m really proud of her. She is just a freakish bitch. The one thing I have up my sleeve is that it was her first run at Newcastle and that will be a bonus. It’s the sort of track they usually find a little bit more next time around, but I’m more worried about recovery wise, whether or not that run has flattened her a bit for next week.”
The first four in each heat went through to next Friday’s $25,000 to the winner final, with Here’s Tears. Stanley Road and By Five Helen all advancing.
In the other heat, Mark Davidson’s Let’s See produced a great performance to win in a touch faster time of 42.03s.
The win was her third in succession and continued an amazing streak of consistency with five wins and five placings from her past 11 starts.
Joining Let’s See in the final will be In Your Time, Aria’s The One and Zipping Brady, with the shock being defending champion Just Terms unable to recover from early trouble and missing a start in the final.
