It’s been more than a decade but Steve Kavanagh obviously still has fond memories of Wentworth Park at Easter.
It was back in 2010 when his dog Cosmic Rumble won the Golden Easter Egg and on a visit to Wenty on Wednesday night, he admitted he considered entering young dog named Louis Rumble in last week’s Egg heats.
“Gee that’s about 10 years ago,” Kavanagh said when reminded about Easter at Wenty. “I was going to go in the Easter Egg with him, but he’s been missing the start, so I thought being such a young dog, that I’d just go for the New Sensation and see how we go.”
He went well … very well, leading all the way and clocking the fastest time of the five heats of the SEN 1170 New Sensation, 29.61s, and then coming up with box one in the draw.
“He can do it when he nails the start, but hasn’t been doing the last couple of weeks. He had a trial here (at Wentworth Park) and then a run here and bungled the start both times. Obviously now he’s getting used to the place.”
There was plenty of confidence from the camp after Louis Rumble reportedly ran the hands off the clock in a trial at Casino last week.
“We’ll you’ve got to trial somewhere and everywhere had been flood bound, so it was the only place I could go,” Kavanagh said. Pushed on how fast the dog went, he replied with a smile: “He went good there.”
Jack Smith is as laidback as a recliner. Even when he had the most popular, and one of the best dogs in the country, Feral Franky, he always played it cool.
So you wouldn’t expect him to make any outlandish statements about his dogs, but the glint in his eye says he thinks there is some special promise in his young dog Jungle Deuce who on Wednesday night took a step towards emulating The Feral, winning his way through to the final of the New Sensation.
Smith actually provided two heat winners, both running identical times, with first Irinka Riley pinging the lids and leading all the way in 29.66s, then Jungle Deuce eventually working his way to the lead on the top turn and coming away for victory in the same time.
“I’m very pleased,” Smith said of Jungle Deuce’s 1½ length win over Super Estrella. “He got a bit of check when he was making his run but he got the job done that’s the main thing.”
“He is (still learning) when he’s off the bunny, he’s right when he’s on the bunny.”
Asked how good he thinks the dog could be, Smith as laconic as always says: “Oh well he’s made a group final so that’s pretty good.”
And the comparison to the 2019 New Sensation winner Feral Franky: “I don’t think he’s in Feral’s class. He is only young.”
Irinka Riley was also impressive, leading all the way in his heat defeating Opals Rocks by 1¾ lengths.
“Yeah that’s the best he’s gone. He’s a young dog improving. He got his box manners right tonight so that’s the reason he’s gone a bit better I think,” Smith said.
It’s not quite like Latrell Mitchell stepping back into park football, but you get the idea. Coast Model looked a graded certainty in the heats of the New Sensation, having just four nights earlier mixed it with the best in the land in the heats of the Golden Easter Egg, and she didn’t disappointed her supporters spearing to the lead and never being threatened.
“I thought she was too (a graded special). She did a few things wrong here last week but this week she came out running,” kennel rep Nathan Tetley said.
“We had to chase this race, there are no other races on at the moment for her. She is pretty consistent early so that will put her right out there, we just have to hope for the best in the final.”
Coast Model clocked a slick 29.67s, having three lengths to spare over Zipping Pearson who with his 29.88s also advanced to the final.
Another man who, like Smith, has enjoyed success in the New Sensation is Alan Proctor who with his wife Christine has won two previous New Sensations with Chevy King in 2017 and Lord Gee in 2015.
The couple qualified National Derby finalist Teddy The Bear for the 2021 final when he arrived just in time to win the opening heat of the series on Wednesday night.
“I’ve won it twice so I kind of like the race,” Alan said. “I knew he jumped alright but going through the catching pen when I saw he was a fair way behind the pink, I didn’t think he could win. But it was a gusty win.”
Teddy The Bear arrived just in time to catch tearaway leader Ritza Daniel in 30.03s, and at the same time stave off the fast finishing Mr Ticket. It was the latter who picked up second.
