Caption: Trainer Danny Preh with Plum Tuckered, winner of last month’s $7700 City Council Mayor’s Trophy (498m) at Townsville. Also pictured are handler Charlotte Turner (left) and Hayley Wooler with third placegetter Spitfire Rhodes, another Preh-trained runner. Photo: Louise Partland.
Queensland regional news with MIKE HILL
“IT’S been a fantastic couple of weeks,” said trainer Danny Preh after talented sprinter Plum Tuckered crushed her rivals in the $7700 City Council Mayor’s Trophy (498m) at Townsville early last month.
The success came a week after the brindle bitch (Fernando Bale-Crazy Bonnie) had won the $23,000 Listed North Queensland Cup over the same journey.
And then seven nights later, to show her versatility, Plum Tuckered blitzed her rivals with sheer speed in a Best 8 Open sprint over 380m, setting a track record of 21.35s.
It sliced .03s off the previous best – 21.38s – held by Senor Yogi.
“She’s the best dog I have ever trained,” said Preh.
“We’ll now head towards the Country Cup series.”
The $26,500 Country Cup (520m) will be run at Albion Park on February 1 after a series of regional heats and finals at Bundaberg, Rockhampton and Townsville in January.
Although Plum Tuckered has blossomed under Preh’s care and guidance at his Kelso-based kennels in Townsville, the trainer is well aware his time with the highly talented sprinter is running out.
The owners, Ipswich-based mates Luke Harm and Andrew Woodford, are keen to have Plum Tuckered back racing in south-east Queensland.
However, they have yet to declare their plans for the sprinter.
“We are in talks week to week,” Preh said.
“The Country Cup series could be the right time to hand her back if she qualifies.
“I admit I’d like to have her all the time.”
He said it was a delight to have the brindle chaser in his kennels.
Since arriving in the north in late July, Plum Tuckered has chalked up nine wins and 10 placings from 24 starts and in recent months has been challenging both the Townsville sprint records.
Before last month’s stunning record run of 21.35s (380m), the sprinter had clocked 21.40s in mid-October, and then ran a flying 28.36s to win a heat of the NQ Cup over 498m in November – just .03s outside Zabdon Ferrari’s record of 28.33s.
Preh also feels the sprinter’s success has rubbed off on other members of his small four-dog team, particularly super-consistent Spitfire Rhodes with four wins and nine placings from his past 14 starts.
Spitfire Rhodes finished third to his kennelmate in their two recent feature finals and on both occasions they were split by the Jay Schafer-trained Balts Orson.
And although Preh may be philosophical about the sprinter’s imminent move back to Brisbane, he said: “If I happened to win Lotto I’d try and buy her.”
The trainer said he knew Plum Tuckered had potential even before she arrived in Townsville.
“I had seen some replays of her runs in Brisbane,” he said. “She may be tiny (25.5kgs) but she has a big heart.
“She’s one of those dogs that keeps coming even when she gets a bump.
“She got creamed in a 380m Saturday morning race between her feature victories but she still flew home and she’s in a league of her own if she can get to the front.”
Her overall stats stand at 46: 15-7-6 and $76,395 in prizemoney.
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GREYHOUND-of-the-moment Mark Sure Can pushed his winning sequence to 14 straight with another powerful display of speed at Rockhampton early last month.
His winning streak, which began in early August, has taken connections by surprise.
Owner Jason Phillips said after the sprinter’s 12th successive win in mid-November: “We are absolutely over the moon. It has been incredible.
“We never thought in a million years that he would win 12 in a row when he went up there (Central Queensland).”
Mark Sure Can began his career with leading Brisbane regional trainer Sandra Hunt in mid-May but after three Albion Park runs, including a 395m maiden victory and a placing, connections decided to send the blue dog (Slick-Sure You Can) north to Christine Pollard.
“Connections wanted him to get a bit more experience in easier company,” said Pollard, who is based at Emerald, 271kms west of Rockhampton.
“He’s a serious chaser with an explosive start.”
Pollard, who’s had a big opinion of the blue sprinter since day one, said last month: “He’s exceeding all my expectations.”
His victories – all over the Rocky 407m trip – include the $7700 Young Guns in late August and the $15,400 QGold final in late September as well as a string of Best 8 events.
Mark Sure Can has also come close to breaking Wayne Webcke’s long-standing 407m track record (23.04s) with a series of super runs.
He clocked the second fastest time at the track – a 23.07s – in mid-November and followed up with 23.13s and 23.12s efforts at his next two starts.
“He’s a machine,” said Pollard. “He must have a fantastic memory muscle to do what he’s doing.
“He’s definitely won over my respect. I refer to him now as Mr Mark Sure Can.
“We even rolled out the ‘red carpet’ for him when we got home after his most recent win.
“Although it was three in the morning, I got a large red towel and rolled it out for him to walk on.”
Pollard is in awe of the dog’s brilliant consistency.
“We’re going to risk his winning streak and step him up to 500m in coming weeks,” she said.
Pollard said she had given the sprinter a post-to-post trial at Rocky in late November and he had clocked a ‘pretty good’ 24.78s.
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DAVID Plummer, heading for his second successive top trainer award at Bundaberg, is very impressed with his talented youngster Different Drum.
The black sprinter (Bernardo-Nerve Settler) powered home for a brilliant victory in the $7700 Bundaberg Young Guns (460m) early last month.
“She’s very strong and it was a great win,” said Plummer, who is based at Takura near Hervey Bay.
He missed the race, as he was interstate, and Different Drum was handled by highly respected south-east Queensland trainers, Sharon and Barry Morris, who now act as kennel care-takers for trainers taking a break.
“And the race panned out much as I thought,” said Plummer.
“There was carnage on the first corner and, because someone new boxed Different Drum, she missed the kick.
“It proved a blessing. Because of her slow start, she missed all the early trouble.”
Different Drum, a $3.10 chance, slipped up along the rail to slot into second place behind tearaway leader, the Doug Gladman-trained $2.70 favourite Hudson Bay.
Adrift by at least seven lengths down the back straight, the Plummer youngster began a forward charge.
“She’s a powerful chaser and is very strong running home but she even surprised me how quickly she took ground off the leader,” the trainer said.
Different Drum had joined Hudson Bay on the turn and raced home for a highly impressive two-length victory.
Hudson Bay’s kennelmate Abel Tasman, also well-fancied at $2.80, was another three lengths away third.
The victory was Plummer’s third feature success of the season after Smart And Classy had landed the Bundy Grand Prix (531m) and the Bundy Sprint Final (460m) earlier in the year.
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MARK Partland was a happy trainer after smart young sprinter Stripey Two gave him his first feature win of the year at Townsville last month.
Stripey Two (Orson Allen-Slick Raven) was a shade too classy for his rivals in the $7700 Young Guns Final (380m).
The black sprinter jumped quickly from box two to grab an early lead before producing an impressive all-the-way victory, beating the Brad Belford-prepared Showtime Archie ($17) by two lengths with another Belford runner, Lottie Bear, a further three-and-a-quarter lengths away third.
Stripey Two clocked a slick 21.59s for the trip.
“He’s a good little dog,” said Partland. “He’s just turned two and he’s given me my first trophy success of the year.”
The victory pushed the youngster’s record to six wins and four seconds from just 17 starts and lifted his earnings above $16,500.
