Caption: Travis Elson and daughter Summer with Bear’s Bullet. (Photo: Box 1 Photography)

By Pat McLeod

During the six-hour drive from Yandina Creek on the Sunshine Coast to the Rockhampton Greyhound Racing Club, on Friday morning, elite trainer Travis Elson will have plenty of time to ponder Bear’s Bullet’s path back to glory in 2024.

That starts with the pair contesting the $75,000-to-the-winner Group 2 Rockhampton Cup Final (510m) on Friday night.

Elson says Bear’s Bullet will follow a similar path to 2023.

But already there are differences.

This time last year the tough, fast-starting bitch was back-up to her more illustrious kennel-mate, the Group 1 Gold Bullion-winning Hello Mike.

Both were part of Elson’s team in Rockhampton, but neither progressed past the heats.

This year Bear’s Bullet is not only in the final, but jumping out of her skin after a two-and-a-half-month break from racing.

And this year Bear’s Bullet is no longer the under-study.

While Hello Mike’s 2023 never got back into top gear after his Gold Bullion success, his ever-reliable side-kick blossomed.

Just a couple of weeks after the Rockhampton Cup Bear’s Bullet started a sensational run with a second in the Group 3 Brisbane Young Guns.

A couple of months later she won the Qld Sprint Championship, then the highlight, basking in Group 1 glory, winning the Ipswich Gold Cup.

She started 2024 as a finalist in the Gold Bullion. Then a rest.

Elson is understated, but excited about the bitch that holds a special place in his heart because of her unwavering tenacity.

“I think she has a good chance in this race,” he says about Friday night’s Cup assignment.

“I never get over-excited, because it is a new track to her.

“If that field was at Albion Park I would be pretty confident.

“But we are on their track and so you have to give the locals the respect they deserve. Their dogs go around there every week.

“I think she’ll be fine this week and certainly close to her best.

“I thought Bear’s Bullet’s run in last week’s heat was pretty good considering the amount of trouble she got into in the run.”

Last year’s Rockhampton Cup, which was given a huge boost in prizemoney to $112,500, attracted a barrage of metropolitan chasers.

This year’s final, with the same prize booty on offer, has a stronger local flavour.

Despite her experience Bear’s Bullet sits on the third line of betting behind ‘locals’ Inevitable (Steven Scott) and Heffernan Bale (Juanita Thompson).

Both may be now locally trained, but are recent arrivals from metropolitan kennels in Victoria (Heffernan Bale) and Brisbane (Inevitable).

Elson rates both dogs, but considers the one dog, Edgewood (Christine Pollard), as his biggest danger, because of that dog’s possible trajectory to the centre of the track after box-rise.

“Bear’s Bullet (Box 3) has to get her shoulders in front of that dog and if she can do that she should be fine,” he said.

“She normally starts well, so that is a bonus.”

Top Brisbane trainer Tom Tzouvelis is in red-hot form at the moment and has two hopes in the final.

He has I’m Old School coming out of Box 8 and also Tagovailoa (Box 4), who was sent north to Rockhampton trainer Ken Boody in January, with this Cup in mind.

The Tagovailoa plan, under the tutelage of Boody, has worked a treat to date with that dog not only winning directly through to the final via the Wildcard series, but also now very familiar with the track after 10 starts there.

Another south-east Queensland trainer, Chris Brydon, has the experienced Villante (Box 5) in the final after a recent second in the Bundaberg Cup.