Quest For Extra Looking to Cap Off His Flying Return
A competitive night of chasing awaits at Angle Park this Thursday night following the final of the Shane McQueen last week, which was taken out by the Richard Pearce-trained Dash Of Blue.
Clint Trengove will take the likely favourite in the form of Quest For Extra into the Gawler to Angle Park final over 530m. It was an excellent return from Quest For Extra on Sunday night, when he came back from a four- month injury enforced layoff.
Prior to the time off, he had shown ability with a win at Sandown Park before a 30.60 victory at Angle Park, but some limping in his front leg led to Clint getting a CT scan for the dog.
“He won three out of four for me, but I couldn’t get him nowhere near fit because he kept limping but he was still winning,” Trengove said on the injury.
“I ended up saying to (John) Katakaski to do a CT scan and find out what’s wrong with the dog. He ended up having a fracture in his stopper bone and he said he would have to operate and take a chip out, I thought that doesn’t sound too flash!”
“I talked to some people in Melbourne and they agreed it was the best thing for him. He actually pulled two big chips out of the stopper.”
The recovery time was slow and it took four months of work from Clint to get him back to the track, but he was confident that he was back to his best thanks to some solid trials.
“I have just taken my time bringing him back slowly. I gave him a box to box and he went really fast, but I took my time building him back up,” he said.
“I thought I would give him a full 500, he went 5.19-17.63-30.53 (at Angle Park), which was on a trial morning!”
“I had to over freshen him, because that eight-dog field was quite a handy field and I was coming out of box four, I knew he was going to get squished up a bit. He got a few checks and the track wasn’t even fast, but he still went fast.”
Despite the injuries, Trengove has a high opinion of the dog and believes that quick times could be in the future for the promising trainer.
“I actually said to my neighbour and brother that he’s the fastest dog I’ve ever had in my hands,” Trengove said.
“But I just can’t get the fitness into him enough for him to show it. I reckon he could be a 30.10-30.20 dog at Angle Park.”
Box three will certainly aid the chances of Quest For Extra this Thursday and if he can replicate his run from Sunday night, then he will certainly take a power of beating.
“He will race this Thursday but then I will give him a week or two off, just to make sure that he’s alright,” he said.
“He’s only got to get a clean run. If he gets a clean run then I can’t see anything beating him, but who knows. He went 3.28 and a few of those other dogs that went about 3.24, but he got a few checks as well. He slowed down towards the end because I had to freshen him up to get him out of the boxes, so he’s still got a fair bit up his sleeve.”
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The Cameron Forshaw trained Bazinga Ava will be looking to continue her perfect start to her when she lines up in a grade 6 over the 530m trip.
It was a gutsy debut performance on debut, when she was pressured and headed after leading, before fighting back for a strong 31.13 win in wet conditions.
“She ran a good race, she had been jumping well out of the boxes so I thought she would jump and lead,” Forshaw said on the maiden victory.
“I was a bit concerned when Senna Wick come up on her inside and pushed off the track a bit, but definitely happy with the way she ran and she didn’t seem to fazed that there was another dog that put some competition on her.”
The run didn’t come as a great surprise, as she had shown some ability previously during her pre-training.
“She was showing a bit early on but then she did an injury that set her back quite a while,” he said.
“We struggled to get her back because the injury kept returning. She showed us enough in trials that she would win a race or two.”
“She’s a dog that runs all day, in the runs she won’t stop, she doesn’t want to stop running so we thought there was a chance that she might run 500 or 600m.
“We’ve taken her coursing and she grabbed the fluff and knicked off with it down the other end! She did three of four laps without even blowing out a candle.”
“She had two 500m trials previously and she went about what she ran on the night.”
Thursday will present a tougher challenge for her, landing into a competitive race, but Forshaw is happy with the draw for her and admits that she will likely find herself out in front.
“The draw is nice, I think our other dog drawn wide will be hard to beat, just on her run home alone. She’s shown a fair bit since coming over. I think she (Bazinga Ava) can get out and lead because she will jump 5.25 every week. I think she will get stronger with more racing and will probably run a place Thursday.”
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Best Bet: Spring Honour (Race 5, Number 2)
Value Bet: Bazinga Ava (Race 9, Number 3)