It’s been a long winter for Nangar Larry but after destroying his opposition in the Goulburn regional final of the Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase (LMDC), trainer Andy Lord has declared the fan favourite is back to his best.
The son of Shima Shine x Nangar Diva giving his rivals a galloping lesson on Friday afternoon to win by five lengths in a time of 24.33 – the fastest 450m effort at Goulburn this year.
“It was a quick time, especially in the wind. You know what they say though, bad conditions agree with good Chasers…he’s just an unbelievable Chaser this bloke,” Lord said post-race.
“Look at his record [60: 26-6-11], all he wants to do is win, he tries his guts out every week. With better weather, that’s close to a record run today. He’s back to how he was going at the start of the year.”
That period Lord speaks of included a third-placed effort in the Group 1 Paws Of Thunder in January, a Group 2 Bulli Gold Cup victory in February, a fourth-placed effort in the Temora Cup decider in March and a Golden Easter Egg final appearance in April.
‘Larry’ booking his maiden ticket to the semi-finals of the LMDC after an indifferent few months.
“I reckon he was carrying something through the winter because he wasn’t the same dog. He might have had a virus but he was below his best for a good six or seven weeks,” Lord added.
“But we looked after him and he’s come good at the right time. Now we’ll just look to race him every week between now and October 12.”
Hayley Moffitt embraces Nangar Larry after his win in the Bulli Gold Cup earlier this year
The approach in direct contrast to that of star Victorian mentor Jason Thompson who said on Wednesday he would give kennel star, Explicit, one run between his Temora LMDC win and the semi-finals.
“What he does is up to him but I raced She’s A Pearl all the way through the 2022 MDC and she won 13 straight while we were doing it. In my opinion, you can’t let dogs sit around, they love racing so that’s what we’ll be doing with him,” Lord suggested.
The Ken Bailey-prepared Nangar Jim, who won back-to-back feature races at Maitland (December) and Temora (March) also bounced back to form after a frustrating period for his new trainer.
“He was advertised on greyhound data and I was looking for a Bendigo Cup sort of dog. Joe McFadyen had him in great order but it took me a while to work him out,” Bailey said.
“At one stage I put him up the straight at Healesville and he hit both sides so I knew I was in a bit of trouble. I rang Joe and he was really helpful…he told me a few things that he’d worked out about he dog and as soon as we sorted that out, he improved out of sight.”
Nangar Jim’s improvement impressing Bailey so much he knew he had to give him a crack at a track he knows and loves.
“He went a length quicker than Schillaci over the shorts about a month ago down in Victoria so we knew he’d come good. We looked around and found this race, and knowing he’d run second in last year’s Goulburn Cup helped as well,” Bailey added.
“I’m also involved in Tim Zoo as well so I knew Jason [Thompson] was taking him and Explicit to Temora which is why we came this way. Anyway, we backed him in the heats and today he had his box and we hoped Overflow Beau would cut across them and help us out and he did.”
Joe McFadyen (right) with Nangar Jim after claiming the 2023 Maitland Cup
Bailey now weighing up the best plan of attack for his charge, knowing some arduous travel demands may lay ahead.
“In a race like this, you want to give any dog the best chance of winning. Do we travel with him? Not sure. I also worry about the change in boxes between Victoria and NSW,” Bailey added.
“He’s still a fifth grader at Wenty Park so that’s handy but we’re also talking with Joe now about maybe coming back up to him for the series. We’ll wait and see.”
The Neil Staines-trained Pure Silver also defied the odds to finish third and book his ticket to the semi-finals of the LMDC on October 12.
