Caption: Trainer Andrew Webb believes Lippy Kid (pictured) can break her 630m duck at Ipswich on Saturday night. (Photo: Just Greyhound Photos)

Weekly wrap of racing at Ipswich with MIKE HILL

LIPPY Kid surprised trainer Andrew Webb with her ‘gutsy’ run over 630m at Ipswich last week.

“She ran better than I thought she would,” said Webb, based at Summerholm in the Lockyer Valley region, west of Brisbane.

“I was expecting her to do well, but not that well.”

Lippy Kid ran a tenacious second, finishing one-and-a-half lengths behind John McCarthy’s seasoned performer Kushti Bok in a 4th/5th Grade (630m).

She jumped quickly from box two, taking an early lead, before being joined by Kushti Bok down the back straight and although the McCarthy chaser moved to a narrow lead on the top corner Lippy Kid never gave up in the straight.

And the well-bred black chaser (Hooked On Scotch-Shilo) gets the chance to break her 630m ‘maiden’ in a 5th Grade at Ipswich on Saturday night.

“If she jumps, she’ll be hard to beat,” said Webb.

“It doesn’t look an overly strong race.”

In fact, not one of the eight runners has won over the trip with three exiting the 630m boxes for the first time, including the Tony Zammit-trained Mickayla Swift, a half-sister to Zammit’s million-dollar stayer Valpolicella, and the consistent Jamie Hosking-prepared Dundee Lexi.

Webb said he wasn’t sure if Lippy Kid would handy the middle distance, but last week’s run impressed him immensely.

“I now have a bit of an idea what to do with her going forward, although I think 630m is her limit (distance-wise) at the moment,” he said.

“She’s quick out of the boxes, which is a big advantage.

“She’s improving and I’ve noticed in her past three or four starts she’s getting more confident running through the corners.

“And I think she can improve a bit more on last week’s run.

“It will be her third time over the 630m.”

Webb, originally from the UK, said Lippy Kid, named after the song ‘Lippy Kids’ by Manchester rock band Elbow, had tired late in the wet going at her first effort over the trip in early June.

“I knew she would struggle when the rain came (that night),” he said.

Lippy Kid’s current stats stand at 12 wins and 19 placings from 52 starts with prizemoney just under $52,500.

Meanwhile, Jamie Hosking said he wanted to bring Dundee Lexi back in distance.

“I didn’t want to give her another 700m run at this stage of her career,” he said.

Hosking, who with a mate purchased Dundee Lexi (Aussie Infrared-Dundee Calypso) from Victorian interests, has only had the light fawn chaser in his Churchable kennels since late April.

But she’s been in the money in all six Queensland outings, including a third placing behind Valpolicella in a heat of the G1 Queensland Cup (710m) at Albion Park last week.

“She’s a bit off the top stayers,” he said.

“The 630m is probably her distance at the moment.

“She’s a nice dog and it will be her first look at the track.”

Dundee Lexi (25: 4-6-4; $29,856) is bred to stay being out of the outstanding Barcia Bale-Crown Poker bitch Dundee Calypso (72: 15-12-14; $124,360), winner of  the G3 Lizrene (715m) at Sandown in May, 2017, before finishing fifth behind the mighty Fanta Bale in both the Sandown Cup (715m) and the Gold Cup (710m) at Albion Park later that year.

Although Hosking admitted Saturday night’s Ipswich run would be a bit of a learning experience for the chaser, ‘the distance won’t be a worry’.

“We’ll see how she goes,” he said.

The trainer said Dundee Lexi’s strength was in the back end of her races and it was unlikely she would lead.

He added that next week’s Ipswich Grand Prix and the Nationals at Albion Park in early August weren’t in his plans for the chaser.

“She may come with me to Darwin for their Cup Carnival (in coming weeks),” he said.

“It’s a carnival that can’t be missed.”

TSU’TEY’S  late-charging win in the $15,400 QGold  5th Grade Final (520m) at Ipswich last Saturday capped off a big night for trainer Tom Tzouvelis.

The victory gave Tzouvelis a winning treble and moved him into third place on the Ipswich trainers premiership.

Tsu’tey, an $8 chance, ran down Corey Mutton’s tearaway leader Cash On Demand ($7) close to home, winning by three-quarters of a length with the Darren Russell-prepared Game Of Patience ($12) just over a length away third.

Tzouvelis’s other winners on the night were Prim and Precise (Maiden Final, 520m) and Fearless Freak (5th Grade, 520m) – both well fancied.

Although Cash On Demand couldn’t hold on for victory in the $10,010-to-the-winner feature, the black sprinter did equal the track’s 520m first sectional split of 5.14s, set by Tarawi Lee back in mid-April.

*****

RODNEY Herr’s consistent sprinter Infra Terra is Ipswich’s greyhound-of-the-month winner for June.

Infra Terra collected three wins, two seconds and a third – all over the 431m trip – in a highly successful month of racing.

The red fawn sprinter (Aussie Infrared-Double Supreme) has boosted his career stats to 7-5-3 from 22 starts.

He joins previous monthly winners Bundy Prize (January), Be Desired (February), Kia Kaha (March), Spring Travis (April) and Tarawi Lee (May).

Meanwhile, the Shane Topping-trained Bundy Prize continues to lead Ipswich’s Greyhound of the Year award.

At the end of June, Bundy Prize (51 points) had a narrow lead over Cyclone Tilly (49) and Tarawi Lee (48).

IPSWICH is gearing up for a series of feature events this month.

The $18,500 Ipswich Grand Prix (732m) – an open event for the best eight chasers – will be run next week (Saturday, July 13).

Previous winners include Mullaway for Joanne Price in 2016, Jalapeno (Tony Apap 2018), Velocity Bettina (Kevin Ellis 2020), Sir Truculent (Wally Harkins 2021), Days Of Thunder (Warren Nicholls 2022) and Select Moment for Gary Mackay last year, while 2014 winner Wag Tail (Christina Harman) holds the race and track record of 43.56s.

Meanwhile, the finals of both the $45,000 Young Guns (520m) and the $7700 Past Members (288m) will be staged on Saturday, July 20.

Heats for the Past Members are scheduled for July 11, while the Young Guns heats will be run on July 13.

*****

THE Gold Chase, Queensland’s only greyhound puppy auction, will be staged at the Ipswich Showgrounds complex on October 12.

Pups sold through one of the two sale categories – auction and buy-in – will be eligible for a series of races in 2026 at The Q, the new multi-million dollar, three-track complex being built at Purga.

A total prizemoney pool of $180,000 will be on offer for the three series.

* The Golden Chase 520m series, to be run on the Q2 track, will carry prizemoney totalling $110,000 with winning connections taking home $75,000.

* The Golden Chase 450m series, on the Q1 circuit, will offer $50,000 with $33,000 going to the winner.

*And for the first time, the Golden Chase Straight Track series will be run on the QS course with $20,000 up for grabs, $12,000 going to the winner.

The auction is open to pups whelped between October 1, 2023, and June 1, 2024, and nominations close on August 16.

There will also be a $10,000 bonus going to the winning breeder of the 520m series.

Nomination forms and terms and conditions are available at www.ipswichgreyhounds.com or by phoning 07 3202 2977.