When Canyonleigh local Kenny Markham asked Victorian David Geall to train a greyhound by the name of Fire Hose, one part of the conversation in particular stood out to the master trainer.
“Ken just said the dog loves Goulburn…and he was right,” Geall said proudly, after watching Fire Hose claim the 2023 Ladbrokes Goulburn Million Dollar Chase regional final.
The son of Aussie Infrared out of Okawa In Black was educated around the lilac city circuit, and after a near miss in the recent Southern Stars series, he returned today to run 24.67 in a powerful front running performance.
“It’s been a good afternoon. We brought him up not long ago for the Southern Stars and he ran third behind Zipping Remus and [eventual winner] Big Daddy, so we knew he went well here. We thought we better come back for another run and look how well that’s turned out,” a proud Geall said.
“He bumped into Zipping Remus again today and he is a very good dog so we knew we had to jump and lead to have a chance. I must admit, when the two of them were jostling for the front I thought we were in a bit of strife, but he just didn’t give in. It was a ripper of a run and I’m over the moon with that.”
The Melbourne Cup winning trainer thrilled to book his first semi-final spot in the world’s richest greyhound series.
“This race is life changing. It’s like winning the lotto isn’t it. Everyone wants to win the lotto and it’s the same with the Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase. Families, kids, grandkids, if you win the million dollar race at Wenty, it sets you up,” Geall proclaimed.
“I’ve got to thank the owners. Fire Hose is out of CHRIS Tilley’s bitch and Kenny Markham is in there too. They gave me the opportunity to train the dog, even when he was going very good. He’s such a friendly dog, he’s always happy and in your face but he’s really toughened up of late as well.”
“He’s about two-and-a-half lengths off the Group-level sort of dogs, but off that run today, and if he can draw a good box in a big race, he could pull it off. He’s so reliable out of the boxes, he’s always in the top three and he’s worked out how to go around two bends now, so we’ll get him up to Wenty for a trial or a race before the semi-finals and see how we go.”
Geall bracing himself for the eight-hour journey back to his base in Lara, but thankful the trip up to one of his favourite NSW tracks was worthwhile.
“I’ve won a Goulburn Cup with Emerald Dancer and I try and support the club wherever possible, but if you’re going to travel, you’ve got to take fast dogs. You can’t be making up the numbers or doing it for a hobby, you’ve got to bring a serious chance and this bloke [Fire Hose] is just that,” he added.
Time Chariot was 1.5 lengths in arrears of the winner, with a time of 24.77 good enough to book his place in the MDC semi-finals for Glenn Summerfield.
“The dog ran a great race and I knew he excelled at Goulburn so I was very happy with his performance,” Summerfield said.
“He was tardy away, maybe last out of the boxes, so he mustered well and halfway through the race he got himself in a really good position on the rail so once Zipping Remus and Enzo Herrera got tangled up, he shot through perfectly,” Summerfield said.
“You dream about these sort of things [winning the MDC] all the time when they’re galloping in the paddock or are on the walking machine. You know it’ll be hard, but you’ve got to dream. I’m very happy and looking forward to the semis.”
Summerfield now intent on improving the son of My Redeemer’s circle track form.
“He’s typically a one turn dog so I’ll have to get him used to some two turn tracks and hopefully we can strengthen him up over 520m. His littermates, Energizer Miss and Star Present, have shown they can run the trip and he’s been pretty strong at the end of 472m at Bulli so I’m confident he can run it out well.”
Meanwhile, local dog Taw Commander continued his good form of late, finishing third for a very excited Andrew Rowe.
“I’m very, very happy. I’ve qualified, you beauty, awesome, awesome, awesome,” Rowe said.
The Goulburn local ecstatic with his youngster’s recent progression and buoyed by his decision to skip another big race.
“I was nearly going to the [Dapto] Megastar and if he was another three or four months older, I may have done that. But he’s still learning what it’s all about so I didn’t think he was quite ready,” Rowe said.
“I went back and forth but I threw him in at Goulburn, then when I saw it was a straight final with all these good dogs I thought “oh no”. I thought I pulled the wrong rein, but it all worked out. He didn’t jump really well, he got squeezed up a little bit but pushed into a nice position and worked home well. He made his own luck and I’m very pleased.”
A second career MDC semi-final appearance awaiting ‘Rowey’ after Sonic Oak made the same stage of the series back last year.
“The semis are a long way off so I’ll get him to Wenty Park the next two Saturdays and just get him used to it. He’s had one look there before and from memory it wasn’t a terrible run for a first look from Box 5. He’s matured a lot since then and he’s really responding to me at the moment and that’s really pleasing,” Rowe added.
The MDC now moves to Dubbo with two heats of the world’s richest greyhound series going off on Saturday night.
Fields for the regional heats at Broken Hill (Sunday), Maitland (Monday) and Bulli (Tuesday) can also be found at thedogs.com.au
