Caption: Denise and Dennis Robinson’s very handy Tricky Micky will contest the heats stage of the Golden Chase (520m) series on Saturday night at Ipswich. (Photo: Box 1 Photography)
By Pat McLeod
Northern NSW conditioner Dennis Robinson isn’t intimidated by the numerous threats in this year’s Golden Chase (520m) series, which explodes into action on Saturday night at Ipswich.
Seven quality-soaked heats will be run at the showgrounds track with Robinson and wife Denise preparing Tricky Micky in the third heat (Race 6) and Say When Glen in the seventh heat (Race 10).
There are final-winning dangers in every heat, however Robinson isn’t perturbed, especially around the chances of Tricky Micky (box 4).
“As far as Tricky Micky goes in the heats on Saturday night, he should just win.
“He has been a very consistent dog and won at Ipswich last Saturday night.
“He is just going really well at the moment.
“He made the final of the 431m version of the Golden Chase (pIacing fourth), but I believe he is even better suited over the 520 metres.
“In fact, he is a dog that will continue to run on and will probably go over longer distance later.
“He is a good little honest chaser, a professional race dog, and has been a good dog since day one.
“This is a very hot series, with a lot of very good dogs, but my opinion is that Micky will be there in the final.
“Only bad luck will beat him.
“Coming out of the four isn’t a problem on Saturday night, he has shown that he has got some speed out of the boxes.
“He comes up against some very good dogs straight away, in his heat, such as Affluent (John McCarthy), who is a very handy dog, but they don’t scare me.
“I think he will lob on the bunny on Saturday night, and that is where he will stay.”
Also in Tricky Micky’s heat is another Golden Chase 431m finalist, Miss Sara Jane (David Sloan), coming out of box 6.
And across the other heats there is no shortage of quality young dogs, who are all graduates of the Ipswich auction.
The winner of the 431m version of the feature, Swift Beach (Darren Russell), will jump from box 7 in the second heat and her just-as-talented kennel sister Savanna Beach is out of box 1 in the opening heat.
The Golden Chase (520m) series, formerly known as the Ipswich Auction Series, has been a marquee event on the Ipswich calendar since first raced in 1989.
However, this year the series has even more significance. The final, on Saturday night, April 5, is the highlight of the last night of racing at the Ipswich track, with racing moving onto the nearby state-of-the-art facility, The Q.
The winner of the final reaps a massive $100,000, with second to receive $25,000, third $12,500, fourth $6250 and $500 for unplaced runners.
Although Robinson’s confidence may centre on Tricky Micky, he says his other contender, Say When Glen, is actually a faster dog.
“Yes, Say When Glen may be slightly quicker, but he has a bit of attitude coming out of the boxes,” he said.
“He is a very, very quick dog, but that is his problem.
“I took him to Albion Park on Tuesday and gave him a post-to-post. He ran 23.98.
“The dog that has a stack of ability, but gets himself mixed up in races.
“If he can lob near them, he will go well.
“He is drawn in the two on Saturday night which gives him a little bit more hope.
“But he has a bad attitude. If he doesn’t want to do something, he doesn’t do it.”
