Caption: Tracey Nicholls with Kia Kaha after victory in the Ipswich Rising Stars Final (520m). The speedster is in career-best form for Thursday night’s Best 8 at Albion Park over 520m. (Photo: Just Greyhound Photos)
By Pat McLeod
In-form owner-trainer Warren Nicholls believes ‘it’s time’ for lightning beginner Kia Kaha.
The successful Zipping Garth x Daniel’s Loss bitch could kick-start a very fruitful end of the week for the Churchable conditioner when she contests a Best 8 (520m) at Albion Park on Thursday night.
With an already impressive record of 17 wins and 20 placings from 41 starts for $142,805 in prizemoney, Nicholls believes Kia Kaha is in career-best form to tackle an upcoming calendar of racing highlights.
A win on Thursday night would be the perfect appetizer to Nicholls’ Friday night thriller, when his Anthony Azzopardi-trained Inconspicuous contests the Million Dollar Chase Final (520m) at Wentworth Park.
But first, Kia Kaha and Thursday night.
“It is time now for her (Kia Kaha) to take these quality dogs on, especially with some big racing coming up at Albion, such as The Flame (December 12).
“After this run, I will concentrate on Ipswich. The target is the Cup there (November 7) and then after that we might look at Melbourne.
“We might go down for the Melbourne Cup (November 30) and have a bit of a muck around there.
“We will just see how she fares there.
“When you look at what is coming up, the races that are out there to win, it really is incredible.”
Nicholls said the Sally Evans-owned chaser’s current race pattern had one ‘weakness’.
“The only difference between where she is now and where she needs to be to be successful in the top grade is her mid-section,” he said.
“She has a flat spot up the back. She leads, drops off, and then comes home again.
“But you can’t work on that. You can work on the front and the back, but not the mid-section.”
Nicholls was rapt with Kia Kaha’s win last week, against a quality field on Thursday night over the 520m at Albion Park, breaking 30 seconds for the first time at The Creek.
“That time, 29.96, was great to see.
“I believe in her current form, at her best at Albion Park I believe she is capable of a 29.70, 29.80, for sure on a good track.
“This Thursday night is just another good test for her. We have nowhere to hide now (after coming through the grades). We have to race these dogs.
“I feel that she is improving at the right time to compete with them.
“We have to go for it now.
“She is going sensational at the moment and I could not be happier with her.
“She has continued to improve and I think she has found a little bit since I took her to Sydney, where she was unlucky in a Million Dollar Chase qualifier (from box 8).
“If she gets the inside she probably wins or at least runs second.
“And then to come back from that and finally break 30 seconds at Albion Park on a soft track, I was very happy about that.
“I think she is going as good as ever.”
Kia Kaha will jump from Box 4 on Thursday night and is the early $2.80 favourite in betting with Hilde (Darren Russell, Box 3) on $4 and Sandra Hunt’s Kahlo Hayze (Box 2) on $4.20.
