Just six weeks ago Rob Howard conceded it would be too much of a hard task for his young dog Clock Off to have a crack at the TAB Million Dollar Chase series.
There were legitimate reasons for his concerns. Clock Off had never been to a two turn track like Wentworth Park, had never been beyond 450m, and at his then latest start in the Maitland Cup heat, he did anything but run out a strong race after leading into the straight. Add to that a handful of setbacks he had recently suffered, and Howard had all but made his decision.
“I was a little bit doubtful going back six weeks,” he explained. “I said no (to contesting the series) because of the 520m, and he’d has some little setbacks, and I’m thinking, no it’s going to be a bit of a hard task.
“But he came through Bulli (two 400m wins) alright, then last week (in the Chase heat at Maitland) - even though he got run down - he pulled up pretty good. Then he had a good hit out on Friday morning and pulled up really good again.
“And he proved that tonight, he just found the line a little bit better.”
Seven days after Jason Mackay’s Zipping Maserati roared past Clock Off to win their heat, it looked like de ja vu swinging for home in Monday night’s Regional Final.
Clock Off had led again, and Zipping Maserati was again on his back. But this time, the leader kept going, winning by ¾ length from Zipping Maserati in a career best 24.83s.
“I was looking for the line, especially after last week,” Howard said. “The small field last week and Maserati was beautifully boxed in the eight. But my dog, he’s still finding his legs a bit, still a little bit raw and that’s the best he’s got to the line tonight.
“The 520m at Wentworth Park is a bit of concern, but I’m having a throw of the dice and he is getting better. I’ve been able to stick a bit more work into him in recent weeks.
“We had a bit of a setback after he raced at Grafton (in January). He got a kidney infection and that just put me a month behind.
“I wasn’t sure about the Maitland Cup, but I gave him one hitout the week before the heats and depending on how he went that day determined whether I put him in the Maitland Cup heats.”
Clock Off won that day leading through in 24.91s the best of the day and Howard decided to press on with the Maitland Cup.
Courtesy of the Regional Final win Clock Off now heads to the semi-finals of the Million Dollar Chase at Wentworth Park on April 29. Howard says he will try and organise a trial at the track before then, but added the dog has had a post-to-post around Wenty earlier this year.
“I think he is more of a two turn track dog than a big one turn dog. His turn speed is really good.
