Mutton hopes QGold lightning can strike twice

 

Caption: A happy Corey Mutton and daughter Elizabeth with Cash On Demand, one of the fancied runners in Saturday night’s $15,400 QGold Final (520m) at Ipswich. (Photo: Just Greyhound Photos)

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Weekly wrap of racing at Ipswich with MIKE HILL

GOLD Coast trainer Corey Mutton is hoping his UK connection can spark a QGold victory repeat at Ipswich.

Mutton and co-owner, Irishman Tony McGrath, who is based in Leeds, England, have Cash On Demand in Saturday night’s $15,400 QGold Final (520m).

The pair, operating as the Mutton Man Racing syndicate, combined to win the $38,600 QGold Winter Chase series over 600m at Albion Park 12 months ago with smart chaser Jimmy The Singer.

And there are some striking similarities between the two.

Jimmy The Singer won his heat at the juicy odds of $23, jumping from a middle box (five), before claiming the $25,090-to-the-winner final from box one a week later.

Cash On Demand was victorious in his heat last weekend exiting box four at the mouth-watering odds of $41 and he, too, has drawn box one in the $10,010-to-the-winner Ipswich final.

It was a highly impressive all-the-way win for the black sprinter in a PB 30.68s.

Cash On Demand (Hooked On Scotch-Zulu Queen) exploded from the boxes, setting up victory with a super 5.18s first split.

“I was blown away,” said Mutton.

“I didn’t expect him to run that time.

“It did surprise me and I’m really enthused by the win.

“He’s been a bit of a hit and miss dog out of the boxes, but if he can lead he’s hard to run down.

“I was impressed with his strong middle section.

“He’s a dog that loves the fence.

“Once he’s on the rails, he hugs it. You need a knife to get him off it.”

Mutton admitted some family members and friends had landed some nice little bets on the night.

He said it had been a lean year and, with Jimmy The Singer sidelined with injury, the win would be a good lift for McGrath.

“Tony’s laying bricks in Ireland at the moment, but he was on him, too,” the trainer said.

He said it was good to get Cash On Demand, better known as Max around the kennels, firing again.

Mutton said he had switched the sprinter to the shorter trips recently in the hope of sharpening him up and improving his starts after several disappointing efforts over 520m.

Two placings over 331m at Albion Park and a win up the Capalaba 366m straight seem to have done the trick.

“I’ve always had an opinion of the dog, even as a pup, but early on he was the worst box dog in the world,” he said.

“He played up badly in his first three or four starts.

“But it looks like he’s finally got his mojo back.”

A strong believer that ‘dogs run for love’, Mutton also credits his teenage daughter Elizabeth for improvement in his team.

“She gained her handler’s licence in late April and recently has been catching for me,” he said.

“I put the improvement down to her.

“She loves the dogs and they love her.

“They are even running harder into the catching pen.

“I think they are running for her.

“When she’s there they go well.

“She’s caught two winners in three meetings.

“Max’s win was a good lift for her; she was on cloud nine after the victory.”

In what he considers is a very even QGold final, Mutton said the main dangers appeared to be the Darren Russel-trained Cash Cloud, jumping from box three, and the Tom Tzouvelis-prepared Tsu’tey (box 4), fresh from a short campaign in Rockhampton.

Both sprinters were runners-up in their respective heats – Cash Cloud behind fastest winner Zephyr (30.37s) and Tsu’tey three-quarters of a length adrift of Cash On Demand.

Cash Cloud, a well-bred Bernardo-Misty Haze youngster, showed early speed from the outside box last week and a repeat performance could put her right in the mix, while Tsu’tey was strong late in his heat.

Gerald Corrigan’s Zephyr looks the testing material again, although he’s jumping from box seven for the first time.

The blue sprinter (Tommy Shelby-Flying Yuna) is chasing a hat-trick of wins after collecting the $6200 4th/5th Grade Final (520m) at Ipswich two weeks ago.

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ASTUTE trainer Ron Brook has a feeling that Marcia Hook can develop into a handy middle distance chaser.

“She’s giving me all the signs that she can handle a longer trip and the test comes on Saturday night at Ipswich,” Brook said from his Southbrook base, in the Toowoomba region, during the week.

Marcia Hook has drawn box seven in a 4th/5th Grade over 630m – her first attempt at the journey.

“She’s not brilliant out of the boxes, but she works into her races and is strong at the finish,” he said.

The black daughter of Fernando Bale and Galester Hook began her career in Victoria and is a two-time winner over 515m at Sandown.

She showed her run-home strength finishing second to Winlock All Over after ‘copping a few bumps’ in Monday’s Bundaberg Grand Prix Final (531m) at her most recent outing.

“She takes time to settle into her races, she’s strong at the end and chases hard right into the catching pen,” Brook said.

“I’ve had it in the back of my mind for a while to step her up to 600m.

“She’s showing me she can run it.

“We’ll see how she goes.”

The trainer said there were a couple of strong dogs in the race, but half the field were new to the distance.

Likely favourite is the John McCarthy-trained Kushti Bok, an impressive winner over the journey last weekend in 37.74s, while the Tom Tzouvelis-prepared Serrai and Cecil Druery’s I’m Sandwiches are both winners over the trip.

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THE Queensland Greyhound Racing Club advises participants the club is introducing an online public trial booking management system (trialbooker.com) at the Ipswich venue as from this Friday (June 28).

Participants will have the option to utilise their existing Trialbooker account to book trials online, or call the club office to book over the phone if preferred.

The first Ipswich public trial session to utilise Trialbooker will be on Monday, July 1, and bookings will open on Friday (June 28) from 9am.

For any further information, please contact the club office on (07) 3202 2977.

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