Caption: Breeder and ownership manager Gary Dodt with the Garry Gilbert-trained Sagai Miss, one of the main hopes in Saturday night’s $45,000 Futurity Final (520m) at Ipswich. Photo: Just Greyhound Photos.
Weekly wrap of racing at Ipswich with MIKE HILL
TRAINER Garry Gilbert is hoping Sagai Miss can go one better and give him his first success in the $45,000 Ipswich Futurity (520m) on Saturday night.
Sagai Miss goes into the $30,000-to-the-winner final with the equal fastest time and the cherished red rug.
Gilbert guided Barbarella into second place behind the Beverley Beesley-prepared Roxanne Benz in the 2017 edition of the Ipswich feature.
Interestingly the third placegetter was Kealoah, mother of million-dollar sprinter Jay Is Jay.
Sagai Miss, a member of the very successful Fernando Bale-She’s Whistling litter bred by Gary Dodt, clocked a slick 30.37s in last week’s heat.
It was a personal best and matched the time clocked by Kisses For Gran (Adam McIntosh) in the previous heat.
In fact, both greyhounds returned the same first split of 5.24s.
Gilbert, although happy with box one, let it slip that he might have preferred Sagai Miss one or two boxes out.
“She does run a straight line out of the boxes and doesn’t get down to the rails until the first corner,” he said.
“A lot of dogs go straight to the rails once they leave the boxes.
“There could be a bit of a hiccup if they come down on her.
“It will depend on how the race is run.
“But she’s got a good chance if she can stay free running early.
“The run to the first corner could decide the race.”
Gilbert said Sagai Miss had ‘pulled up fine’ after her heat victory, which took her record to 14 wins and 12 placings from 42 starts and lifted her earnings to just under $45,000.
“Her biggest assets are her early speed and her love to chase,” said the Tivoli-based (Ipswich) trainer.
And he added: “The Ipswich track did appear to be extremely fast last week; most of the winners ran fast times.
“I hope it’s fast again this week.”
Gilbert trains six of the 11-member Fernando Bale-She’s Whistling litter – Sagai Miss, It Wasn’t Me (40: 14-4-4, $61,400), Whistle Away (35: 9-12-7, $55,323), My Holiday Fund (39: 11-9-3, $36,930), Howdy Doody (31: 6-4-5, $30,045) and He’s Something (7: 1-1-1, $4160).
Collectively they have won 77 races since hitting the tracks earlier in the year.
“The whole litter (six boys, five girls) loves to run,” he said.
“They’re making finals, they’ve just got to convert.”
Gilbert had It Wasn’t Me and Whistle Away in the final of the Group 2 Capalaba Cup (366m) earlier this month, while It Wasn’t Me finished fourth behind Duffman in the G3 Vince Curry Memorial Maiden Final (520m) in February.
He did have success in a $10,010-to-the-winner QGold final with It Wasn’t Me at Capalabla in September, while Whistle Away ran second to Valhalla in a similar final the same day.
Gilbert said the Tom Tzouvelis-trained Autumn Storm (box 3) looked a big threat on Saturday night.
“It was a huge run (by her in the heat last week) and there are a few others that will be hard to beat,” he said.
Autumn Storm was a fast-finishing second, just three-quarters of a length behind Sagai Miss after ‘walking’ out of the boxes.
Tzouvelis also has Awesome Story in the final, jumping from box two, while John McCarthy will rug up litter sisters Dish For Dash (box 6) and Mossy Boots (box 8).
The Adam McIntosh-prepared Kisses For Gran, the other equal fastest heat winner, has drawn box five, while the remaining heat winner from last weekend Uno Nangar (John Corrigan) will exit box four.
The Corrigan black sprinter (Primo Uno-Nangar Diva), racing in a purple patch, will be chasing her fourth win on the trot.
Meanwhile, punters are faced with an absorbing Derby final with the two fastest qualifiers, the Jedda Cutlack-prepared Duffman (30.01s BON) and the Pamela Field-trained More Than Money (30.19s), jumping from the outside boxes.
Duffman, who has never missed a place from 10 starts at Ipswich (six wins and four placings), clocked the fourth fastest time ever at the track with his stunning victory last week.
The brindle sprinter (SH Avatar-She’s Some Gal) tormented his rivals, scoring by just under 12 lengths.
Winner of the Vince Curry earlier in the year, Duffman was coming off a fourth to Explicit in a Million Dollar Chase semi-final at Wentworth Park.
However, his record from the outside box isn’t great with one win from five outings, while More Than Money has yet to win from seven (two starts).
However, the Field-trained black sprinter (Aston Rupee-More Than Magic) has been a revelation in recent months with Best 8 wins at Albion Park, including a 29.74sPB.
The Derby is chock-full of quality with heat winners Riun Art (Tony Apap) in box four and the Ben McCarthy-trained Fast Eddie stepping from six, while Ned Snow has smart littermates Extreme Tension in box five and Glastonbury Man, jumping from three.
The strong Selena Zammit kennel will rug up recent acquisition Backcreek Benny.
Not the best beginner, the black son of Sennachie and Kooringa Maizie tends to motor when in open space, but may not get a lot of room from box two, while the powerful Tzouvelis camp has Tsu’tey stepping from the inside.
IN a big night of racing, staying queen Valpolicella is certain to have her admirers in the $11,600 Prostate Cancer Cup (630m), while Bear’s Bullet returns to the scene of one of her grand wins in the $6200 Ipswich Cup Prelude (520m).
The Tony Zammit-trained Valpolicella steps down in distance after breaking the Ipswich 732m track record three starts back before missing a place in last week’s Sydney Cup Final (720m) at Wentwoth Park.
Zammit said there were some good races coming up in Victoria for the million-dollar champ, provided she stayed sound.
He hopes to keep her racing at least until the end of the year.
Valpolicella last raced over the Ipswich 630m trip almost 12 months ago, winning in 37.05s.
Her main dangers look to be the super consistent Hara’s Luna (Jemma Daley), the Warren Nicholls’ pair Jeremiah Fire and Spiderbait and Martina Kirillidis’ Binny Doo.
Meanwhile, Elson has indicated that Bear’s Bullet, victorious in last year’s Ipswich Cup, was again being aimed at the G1 feature (final next month).
The dark brindle sprinter has drawn the red rug in Saturday’s Prelude but her recent form at Albion Park has been disappointing.
Comedy Act (Mick Johnston), Zephyr (Gerald Corrigan), Willow’s Gift (Daniel Lee) and Villante (Chris Brydon) look the testing material.
PAULINE Byers strengthened her lead at the top of the Ipswich female trainers’ premiership with a winning treble last Friday.
Byers was successful with maiden winner Spring Lester ($1.90 fav), Spring Molley, in a novice ($1.90 fav) and $8 chance Spring Oliver in a 3rd/4th Grade – all over the 431m trip.
