Caption: Doing Fine (7), for Mick Patterson, just fails to reel in Dixie Gambles (Tom Tzouvelis) in last week’s heat of a 5th Grade 600m event at Albion Park. The pair will clash again in this Thursday night’s final. (Photo: Box 1 Photography)
By Pat McLeod
Northern NSW trainer Mick Patterson has a well-earned reputation as an astute judge of greyhounds.
So, when he gives guarded praise of Doing Fine, the pick of his current Superior Panama – What About It litter, it pays to take notice.
Patterson predicts the youngster will acquit himself well in the 5th Grade Final over 600m at Albion Park on Thursday night.
“I feel that if he (Doing Fine) gets a clear go on the rail, it will take a very good dog to hold him out,” he says with measured confidence.
But it is only when Patterson trails off, and his mind hits ‘fast forward’ that you get a clearer picture of what lies ahead.
“I have no doubt that the day I put him up to 700 metres you will see something,” he says with genuine conviction.
Most who saw Doing Fine’s performance in last week’s 600m heats at The Creek, would nod in agreement.
Patterson’s chaser overcame a far-from-clear run from the seven box, to come from last and weave his way through the field before unleashing a late surge to finish in second place, a head short of Tom Tzouvelis’ Dixie Gambles.
“He is a dog that, if he gets a clear run, he just keeps winding up,” said Patterson.
“He just keeps going faster until the end. I’m not saying that he is a slow beginner, but he just gets continually faster during the run.”
Patterson said he had decided to ‘go early’ with Doing Fine’s elevation up to middle-distance racing when he put him over 600m at Albion Park for the dog’s 11th start on January 29.
He won by seven-and-half lengths in 34.94.
“I don’t normally put my dogs up in distance that early, but he was getting knocked around a little bit in sprint races,” he explains.
“I would have liked to have kept him back for a while longer for him to win a couple of 500m races.
“He is not a good box dog, but has always been an extremely strong dog.
“So, we put him up in distance, and the result didn’t surprise me. I know what he can do.
“I just knew that he would run it.
“From there I thought we would look for a heat and final. And that is where we are now.
“For this final, there is certainly a lot of pace inside of him, but he loves the rail and so if he can get to the rail early and keep in touch with them, we will see.
“But there are some good dogs in this race.”
Looking ahead, Patterson is excited about the dog’s potential over 700m for two reasons – his desire to chase and his breeding.
“I am really keen to see him over more distance,” he said.
“He just loves to chase, there is no doubt about that.
“You get some dogs that have plenty of pace, but not a big ticker. This dog is all ticker.
“He has the chase in him. He wants to win.
“His mother, What About It, ran second in a Group One race (the 2020 Gold Cup Final 710m at Albion Park) to True Detective and one more bounce and she wins it.
“But Covid ruined her career and I believe she could have been super. We had box one in a group race at Albion Park and couldn’t cross the border.
“We were locked into Grafton.
“I decided to go with Superior Panama for her first litter and this is the result.”
In what should be a hotly contested final on Thursday night, trainer-of-the-moment Tom Tzouvelis has three starters – Pursuer (Box 1), Scarlatti (7) and Dixie Gambles (8).
In early betting Pursuer is a $3.40 favourite, with Col Graham’s Seven Sinners on $3.60 and Doing Fine at $5.
