Caption: A happy Danny Preh with his wife Teri and Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill after talented sprinter Tipsy Four won the $3675 City Council Mayors Trophy (498m) at Townsville last month. (Photo: Louise Partland)

By MIKE HILL

THINGS are looking bright for owner Liam Mulry and his Muldog Racing Syndicate with new acquisition My Bro Beach.

The My Bro Fabio-Blue Bird black dog sliced a decent chunk off his purchase price with an impressive come-from-behind victory in last month’s $5250 Bundaberg Young Guns (460m).

The Darren Taylor-trained sprinter was at the back of the field early but started pushing up along the rails down the back straight and by the corner was challenging the leading pair – the Robert Ayres-trained Baby Guinness ($5) and Peter O’Reilly’s Call Me Gibbs ($5).

My Bro Beach ($4.40) just got the upper hand near the post, narrowly beating Call Me Gibbs  with Baby Guinness two-and-a-half lengths away third.

“He had a little bit of luck with the favourite (Not Scared) getting into trouble, but he was strong enough to win,” said Mulry.

“He’s a little bit slow out of the boxes but he has good track sense.

“He uses his head and he seems to like the Bundy track.”

My Bro Beach has had five starts for Mulry and Taylor for two wins, both at Bundaberg, a second in a Young Guns heat and two thirds at Rockhampton.

Mulry said success in the $3500-to-the-winner Bundy final ‘was a nice return’.

“It didn’t cover his purchase price but it was a nice little push along,” he said.

“He’s well on the way to recouping his sale price.

“So far, so good.”

My Bro Beach was a member of the strong Wayne and Steve Scott kennels at Churchable.

“I’d been watching a few of his runs at Albion Park and I liked him.

“I thought he’d been a good dog for Darren at Rockhampton and he was young enough for the Young Guns series.

“He wasn’t for sale but I made an offer and the Scotts accepted.”

My Bro Beach is in the same syndicate ownership as Rose Ali, another successful sprinter for the  Mulry group.

The extremely well-bred My Bro Fabio-Born Ali bitch has been impressive in recent months with a series of wins over 520m and 710m at Albion Park.

Mulry said My Bro Beach could be a contender for the upcoming Country Cup series.

“But first we’ll try our luck in the Christmas Cup at Bundaberg in coming weeks,” he said.

“His experience at Albion Park (he’s won twice over 520m) will help him if he’s good enough to get there for the Country Cup final.

“Things are looking bright for him.”

MEANWHILE trainer Brad Belford is planning a multi-pronged  assault on the Country Cup series after his kennel pair quinellaed  the $16,800 North Queensland Cup at Townville last month.

Belford made it back-to-back wins in the big feature when Cult Hero beat his more fancied kennelmate Major Gibson with last year’s winner Murphy Rumble narrowly beaten for third by the Darren Taylor-trained Over Time. (See story Page 40)

It was the master trainer’s third Cup win after Don’t Listen was successful in 2011.

But it came at a cost …  his highly talented sprinter Major Gibson injured a back muscle in running.

“He was leading at the time,” said Belford, “and he did an amazing job to hang on for second.

“He’s only a young dog – he’s just turned two – and he’s been racing almost six months without a break.

“He’ll have a nice spell now.”

Major Gibson (Dyna Double One-Diligent Miss) suffered a nasty fall in mid-November, a week before his Cup heat win.

“It was a scary tumble,” said Belford, “but he made a remarkable recovery  after the club vet gave him the okay following the race.

“I worked hard to get him to the heats and he came out and won.

“It was unfortunate he sustained his injury in the final.”

The trainer also paid tribute to the winner, Cult Hero (SH Avatar-Flash Glance).

He said he had fancied his other two representatives in the final only because  Cult Hero was poorly boxed  in six.

“He likes the rails,” Belford said.

“He’s never won much from out wide – in fact, that was his first victory from box six in eight attempts.”

Belford has just experienced a huge 12 months as a trainer.

“It’s been a top year, probably my best,” he said.

As of early last month, he had rugged up 87 winners, 65 seconds and 55 thirds since the beginning of January for a winning strike rate of 21 per cent and a placing strike rate of 51 per cent.

His 44 starters accumulated prizemoney totalling more than $170,000 during the year.

Belford is now looking forward to an even better 2021 and is aiming his premier sprinters towards the $8400-to-the-winner Country Cup Final (520m) at Albion Park.

“The Country Cup is one race we are definitely chasing,” the trainer said.

Belford has pencilled in Cult Hero, Murphy Rumble and possibly Rumble Master as likely kennel representatives in the Country Cup series.

Rumble Master is coming back from injury after finishing third to Elegant Eleanor in the Albion Park final  last January and the trainer will monitor Major Gibson’s progress  in coming weeks.

However, the latest word from the kennel was that the talented sprinter may ‘sit out’ the Country Cup for a more ambitious campaign later in the year.

SMART sprinter Tipsy Four has twice been booked to head home to the Brisbane region and each time the owners have changed their minds.

The latest backflip came last month only days before caretaker trainer Danny Preh rugged up the smart bitch to win the $3675 City Council Mayors Trophy (498m) at Townsville.

“I was confident before the race,” said Preh.

“She was well suited from box seven and once she got to the front she was always going to be hard to run down.”

Tipsy Four, well supported at $3.90, swept to the lead down the back straight and raced away for a dominant victory, beating Scott Atkinson’s Go Molly Go ($3.60) by five-and-a-half lengths with the Harold Hovi-prepared Gold Assassin ($14) another two lengths away third.

The winner stopped the clock at a super slick 28.63s – only .30s outside Zabdon Ferrari’s track record of 28.33s.

“It was a great result. She’s never gone under 28.70s before,” said a happy Preh. “It was the perfect run.

“She’s got a motor.

“However, her downfall is her starts. She won’t push through when boxed in the middle … she needs a clear run.”

Tipsy Four has been a model of consistency since joining Preh’s small team five months ago with eight wins and 10 placings from 24 starts.

She arrived at Preh’s Kelso kennels in late July after Laidley Heights-based trainer Darren Makowiecki had sent her north for a tilt at the Group Three Townsville Cup (498m).

“They sent her up a month early to allow her to acclimatise to the weather and track,” said Preh.

She thrived under his guidance with an early  win and three placings leading into the Cup series in late August and her syndicate of owners made the trip north after Tipsy Four qualified for the big feature.

She finished a gallant third in the final behind Hara’s Panda.

“The plan was she would travel back with the owners after the Cup,” Preh said.

“In fact, she was in the vehicle heading south when the owners decided to turn around and bring her back to me.

“They said she could stay another month.”

One month turned into two and then three.

“They had booked her trip back to Brisbane after she failed to qualify for the NQ Cup in late November,” he said.

“Then they made the decision to leave her with me until she finishes her racing.”

So Tipsy Four will now be staying in the north for few more months at least.

Preh admitted the talented bitch had given him some wonderful memories, none better than winning a heat of the Townsville Cup.

He said he was stoked for connections after the Mayors Trophy win but Tipsy Four’s third in the Townsville Cup was his highlight for the year.

“I was more emotional after she won her Cup heat than any other victory,” he said.

“For me, the pressure of getting her in the big one was over and to run third, it was enormous.

“Now she’ll stay here until she finishes racing and then she will return home for breeding.”

THAGOONA owner-breeder-trainer Michael Vaughan has a couple of smart youngsters on his hands.

Littermates One Size Up and Faith In Norris (Knocka Norris-Walk With Faith) both won first-up at Ipswich in recent months.

Faith In Norris was successful over 520m in late October, clocking 30.80s, and has since followed it up with two seconds over the same distance.

One Size Up impressively won his maiden by seven-and-a-half lengths in late November, covering the distance in 30.86s and a week later won in similar fashion with a 30.81s run.

Another member of the litter, the Terrence Chapman-trained Knock With Faith won second-up over 366m at Capalaba.