It’s funny how things pan out. Mick Patterson’s original plan for his young dog Respectability was the Robert Smith Memorial Maiden at The Gardens. Then it was the Magic Maiden at Wentworth Park. In the end the planets refused to align, and he missed both, but that wasn’t the case with the Des Winters Grafton Cup Final last Sunday.
Respectability made it four straight wins with another impressive victory, taking out the Cup and the $25,000 which goes with. Mick says he will now head to Queensland and their carnival, with the Flying Amy and hopefully the State Of Origin, two of his targets.
But, back to those missed opportunities.
“I knew he had enormous talent,” Patterson explained. “Wherever I have taken him he has trialled exceptionally and just with what happened up my way at the Northern Rivers … we should have been at The Gardens - I don’t think we could have beaten the dog that won the final (French Martini) she has come out and won the Ladies Bracelet, but he would have run a good race and he trialled very good there … but we couldn’t get out with the floods.
“Then he all bar won a heat of the Magic Maiden in Sydney. He was about to go to the front and he got his back legs clipped. We were then a reserve for the semi-finals, and the dog in one box was scratched so we got a run.
“But there were three trees down on the way out town to Sydney, and the council had shut the road and we couldn’t get through. It was sensible, but … you don’t often get box one in a semi-final.”
At that point Respectability had finished 6th, 7th, 5th and 6th at his first four starts. Patterson knew he had to do something to get the dog’s confidence back.
“He had terrible form but if you looked at his starts he really got interfered with in his runs. Then we put him in the Easter Maiden heats at Grafton trying to just win a race and get the maiden out of the way, because it was getting so frustrating, but he was made reserve and never got a run.
“So then we raced on the night of the Easter Maiden final and he ran the best of the night - 25.12s - and got the maiden out of the way.
“Honestly I blame the trainer. He was going so good, he was 18 months old and I tell you now he had half a second on the dogs that were beating him. But he got badly checked and knocked out of a race and that was it more or less. Because he got knocked around a couple of times it became a confidence thing and he didn’t know what was going on.
“Thanks to a mate of mine, Reggie Gardoll, he put a few dogs up against him who were handy dogs and he got his confidence that way.”
Respectability won his next start at Grafton in 8 lengths in the best of the day, and Patterson decided to put him in the heats of the Cup. He won impressively again and then in the final last Sunday another powerful performance winning in 25.25s.
“He’s a very strong dog, and his run home times have improved ever time we have run there,” Patterson said.
“He’s got a lot of potential but he only turned two in April so we’ll nurse him through.”
Next on the agenda is the Group 2 Flying Amy in Brisbane in June. It’s a race won by Patterson back in 2010 when it had Group 1 status with a dog he justifiably calls a champion, He Knows Uno.
He Knows Uno won 34 races during an illustrious career, and was runner-up to Radley Bale in the 2011 Golden Easter Egg.
“I have no doubt I had a champion. He won a Flying Amy, was three times nominated for Queensland Greyhound Of The Year, twice nominated NSW Greyhound Of The Year, won the Australasian Run of the Year and won NSW Stayer of the Year.
“He was on the podium over 400m, 500m, 600m and 700m. He raced all the hot dogs of his time and made 23 group finals.”
