They say records are made to be broken but rarely does a dog obliterate a mark like Paua Of BUDDY did at Wagga last Friday on his way to the final of the $50,000 to-the-winner GRNSW Southern Stars Series.
The David Jones-trained dog scorched around the 400m Wagga circuit in a time of 22.28, eclipsing the previous track record held by Bit Flash by a remarkable 0.25 seconds.
“The record was 22.53 so he didn’t just beat it, he’s smashed it by over three lengths and there’s been some good dogs go around here in the last 30 years which makes it even better,” Jones said.
“He’s broken the record in winter too and that’s very hard to do when the tracks are moist and soft, in Summer he may have got closer to 22 flat,” he added.
The son of Melbourne Cup winner Aston Dee Bee has already shown considerable potential in his 18 starts, winning a dozen races including the Group 2 Bendigo Cup in October last year.
“I own him, bred him and broke him in but then I sent him to Melbourne to be trained by Steve [White]. I send most of them to different trainers once I work out their calibre. I’ve got a lot of pups on the property here and I like mucking around with them so once they’re ready I’m happy to send them out to other people to take care of,” Jones said.
A broken toe in a match race with Typhoon Sammy back in March forcing the rising star off the track and back into the care of Jones – the newly formed Southern Stars Series fitting perfectly into his recovery timeline.
“He bumped into Typhoon Sammy and just got twisted a bit funny. He ended up fracturing a toe so I sent him down to Sandown to get a part of the toe nail removed and then brought him back up here to Wagga to recover. I was going to send him back down to Steve [White] but I’d had him in work for six weeks and thought I’d just throw him in the Southern Stars Series first to see what he could do,” he said.
A date in the July 29 decider at Goulburn with G1 place getter Good Odds Cash and 2022 Vic Peters Classic winner Gatlin now awaits Paua Of BUDDY, with Jones admitting his charge could be “the ham in the sandwich” from Box 4.
“Good Odds Cash is in Box 3, his half-brother is in 5 [Crowdza Dazzled] and Gatlin is speedy and has drawn Box 2 so we’ll just need a bit of luck at the start and hopefully he can lead by the first corner. Whoever can hold that fence will be the hardest to beat but the field is full of really good dogs,” Jones said.
“Our guy has just got the tenacity to Chase, he’s a perfectly packaged dog and just does everything right. We’ll get him safely through the final on Friday and we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but we are considering a race like the Million Dollar Chase,” he said.
Another dog waiting for Paua Of BUDDY in the inaugural Southern Stars Series final is fellow Wagga heat winner Robbie Rotten.
The former NSW flyer is still owned by Maitland local Deon Hansen but is now running for the Pearcedale-based Kayla Cottrell in Victoria.
Hansen admitting he “Nearly fell off his chair” when he saw the dog was nominated to race at Wagga.
“I opened the email from Kayla last week and my first thought was “Why on earth is he racing there?” but then I saw he was entered in the heats of the Southern Stars Series and it proved to be a great call. They were smart enough to give Goulburn a wide berth considering the quality of the fields there and Why wouldn’t you when the Lords and Hursts of the world are going to be around” Hansen said.
“Kayla and her family have done a fantastic job with the dog since we sent him down there. I found her on Facebook and asked her if she’d train him and he has really grown a leg with them. Kayla, her dad DAVE, her boyfriend Jake as well, they’re a lovely group and they’ve got him into some big races which is really exciting for everyone involved,” he said.
Robbie Rotten’s heat time of 22.82 was a fair way off the 22.28 benchmark set by Paua Of BUDDY, with Hansen admitting his 2022 Warragul Cup winner “will probably be an outsider” come race time.
“That was his first look at Wagga and it was a nice run but it’s a hell of a final so we’ll see how he goes. He’s only had three runs back from injury and two of those were over the shorts so we think he’s got some improvement in him. He’s drawn Box 1 which will help and he’s coming out of the boxes a lot better now so he isn’t without hope,” Hansen said.
“I don’t expect a win but I didn’t expect him to win the Warragul Cup or run in four group finals in the last seven months either so who knows. It’d be a real feather in his cap if he could knock these dogs off. Good Odds Cash has won over $300,000 so she’s obviously got great ability and should be the favourite. Gatlin is in Box 2 and Minnie Finn has him flying so if we’re a chance we’re going to have to get out in front of those two,” Hansen said.
“And I saw the post-heat interview with John and Kath [Mellon] as well and I’d love to see Mellcat Big Boy win it if Robbie can’t. They seem lovely, they’re locals, their dog has a remarkable record from Box 7 and salt of the earth people like them is what I love most about the industry,” he added.
