Caption: Nominator Phillip Rae with the superbly bred Fernando Bale-Micks Recall dog that topped Sunday’s Golden Chase Puppy Auction at Ipswich. (Photo: Anita Watts)
Ipswich Club Weekly Wrap with MIKE HILL
KERRI-Lyn Harkness dares to dream as her smart chaser Fancy A Scotch faces his acid test in heats of the $45,000 Ipswich Derby (520m) on Saturday night.
Fancy A Scotch is in career-best form with three wins from his past four starts, including victories in the $15,400 QGold 5th Grade Final (431m) and last week’s $11,600 Lady Trainers 5th Grade Final (520m) – both at Ipswich.
Harkness admitted it will be the first time she has personally rugged up a runner in the Derby.
“I’m not overly happy with the draw (Box 6) … I would have liked him closer to the rails,” said the Park Ridge-based trainer.
“But I know he’ll try his hardest.
“He’s a strong, honest little dog.
“I just hope he gets his chance.
“I was ecstatic after his win last Saturday.
“He made up a lot of ground to win and was going away at the finish.”
Harkness said it was ‘just beautiful to win’ the Lady Trainers feature.
“It meant a lot to me,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever won a satin rug.
“I also received a beautiful medallion.
“I could have cried. I’ve never won a rug before.”
She said fellow trainers had congratulated her after the win.
“Jedda (Cutlack) said ‘you did well.’ It was wonderful.”
Harkness, who trained a dog a friend gave her many years ago, only picked up the collar and lead again last October although she has worked closely with long-time partner and trainer Steve Woods at their Park Ridge complex.
She has two dogs in work, Fancy A Scotch and Master Distiller, both by Hooked On Scotch.
Harkness said Fancy A Scotch, whose record currently stands at eight wins and 12 placings from 40 starts with prizemoney just under $50,000, was an interesting dog.
“He’s a smart dog in a field and he’s not afraid to push through once he gets to the rails,” the trainer said.
“He had to work hard to win last week. I liked the way he kicked away in the straight.”
And she has a lot of time for the Hooked On Scotch breed.
So much so that she picked up another three pups – litter mates (Hooked On Scotch-Kiss And Cut) – at Sunday’s Ipswich auction.
The pups, two bitches and a dog, were offered by leading breeders Jeff and Jane Crawford.
“I love the Hooked On Scotch dogs,” Kerri-Lyn said.
“I just find they’re so well-behaved.
“They’re wonderful in the kennel, they don’t carry on and they’re so patient.”
Three Futurity and three Derby heats will highlight Saturday night’s meeting at Ipswich with the winners and runners-up and the two fastest thirds in each series making up next week’s rich finals.
*****
IPSWICH is likely to push next year’s Golden Chase Puppy Auction back a week or two to mid-October.
Club president Rob Essex blames a clash with the Bathurst 1000 endurance car race and the Capalaba Cup for a lack of buyer numbers at Sunday’s auction.
“It was a disappointing response,” Essex said.
“The two major sporting events (at Bathurst and Capalaba) had a major impact on the auction.
“I’m certain they contributed heavily to the disappointing number of potential buyers at the sale.
“We set the date for our auction early in the year, unaware that both the NRL and Supercars were pushing their flagship events (the NRL grand final and Bathurst 1000) back a weekend.
“Over the years were have moved the auction away from clashing with Bathurst.
“I’m suggesting we’ll probably stage the auction in mid-October next year to avoid a similar clash.”
Essex said a total of 38 pups from a catalogue of 48 had gone under the hammer.
He said of the 10 Lots withdrawn prior to the auction, more than half were later paid up for the series.
The sale topper was an impressively well-bred pup by super sire Fernando Bale from the Group winning bitch Micks Recall.
The black dog (Lot 4), offered by Phillip Rae, brought $10,000 and was purchased by Letitia Langebecker.
Other high-priced pups included four members of the Hooked On Scotch-Kiss And Cut litter – Lot 28 ($6500), Lot 33 ($6500), Lot 22 ($6000) and Lot 39 ($6000).
Essex said just over 220 dogs (from the auction and the buy-in category) were eligible for the 2025 Golden Chase series, which will carry more than $200,000 in prizemoney.
*****
MEANWHILE, Luscombe-based trainer Gary Mackay gained a timely win with smart stayer Select Moment in the $11,600 Race To Beat Breast Cancer Cup (732m) at Ipswich last Saturday night.
Only days earlier he had been forced to scratch his brilliant sprinter Fernando Grand from the weekend’s Group 2 $112,500 Capalaba Cup Final (366m).
Fernando Grand had injured himself after winning his Cup heat a week earlier.
*****
IT’S been a week for doubles at Ipswich.
Last Friday Cynthia Suttle landed a successful pair with Novice winner Ellie Rhee Court and Minter Formula (4th/5th Grade); which was matched by Daniel Lee with 5th graders On Any Day and Willow’s Gift.
Marion Goodwin landed her double with 5th graders Clear To Pass and Poseidon Rush on Saturday night, while Renald Attard repeated the dose on Tuesday with maiden winners Major Reisman and Panama Madam, while Darren Russell was successful with Game Of Patience (maiden) and 5th grader Precious Layla.
