Footrot Fender looking to cause an upset in Champion Puppy Final
The Bosko Stamenkovic trained Footrot Fender will be hoping to cause an upset when he lines up in the 2023 Fresh Pet Food Co Champion Puppy Final over 530m at Angle Park on Thursday night.
With a tidy $10,000 to the winner, this year's race has brought together a small but quality field, with the Bill Wudarczyk trained One Last Kiss, likely to start favourite following a big win in the Prelude last week.
The majority of the field came through the Prelude which was run last week, with that race producing a fantastic spectacle. One Last Kiss overcame trouble on his way to winning, however Footrot Fender also found plenty of trouble in the run, losing momentum multiple times, yet still going down by just a few lengths and running second.
That run last week from Footrot Fender showed immense improvement from his sound debut victory the week prior, where he led the whole way in 30.80.
Trainer Bozko Stamenkovic was very pleased with the Prelude runs and conceded that the result could have arguably been different.
“He was a certainty beaten, he should have won. He went past Bill’s dog (One Last Kiss) twice, but still got beat!” Stamenkovic lamented.
“He got two checks, he should have been four or five in front of him (One Last Kiss) and challenging for the lead down the back, but he ended up being fifth.”
Footrot Fender has drawn box seven for the final on Thursday, which is not ideal according to Stamenkovic, but he still gives his dog a chance in the final.
“He’s stuck out there in a bad box again, the two favourites have the right boxes,” Stamenkovic said.
“No one gave him a chance (last week), but I gave him a chance. It’s the same in the final, the two other dogs have their favourite boxes and we’re stuck in a bad box, but with the way it is, I think I can follow the five (Hurricane Carter) and get on the outside of him early. I give him a chance.”
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Soda Saville has produced a brilliant return to racing under the care of Paul Fagan, with the high-quality chaser returning from a six month spell in great form.
Having shown his ability over the staying journey in the past, the fawn dog had his last start in Western Australia back in January, before returning over the 342m distance at Angle Park earlier this month and winning emphatically.
It was a matter of fortune which saw Soda Saville land in the care of Fagan, with a connection to his owner playing a role in him coming to South Australia.
“We were going to purchase the dog and in his last trial he tore the bottom of his back leg muscle, so what happened there is that the sale fell through,” Fagan said.
“The owner is a friend of mine so he sent him to me and said can you do the rehab and if you get him going then you’ve got a nice dog. So we did three or four months of work to get him back but he’s come back good.”
Given the seriousness of the injury and the age of Soda Saville, having just turned four, it has been a terrific training feat to have him return to the track in the form that he has. Prior to his run at Angle Park first up, he had recorded a couple of slick trials, including a 13.70 handslip at Gawler, which showed that he had come back in good form. Knowing this, it has still been a good surprise for Fagan with what Soda Saville has been able to produce so far in his return.
“It has (the wins been surprising) because they have been ridiculously short for him, he’s a stayer,” Fagan said.
“He’s a front running stayer having said that and he’s capable of brilliant times, but to be sprinting well, it’s quite good.”
Soda Saville will take on a new challenge this Thursday, when he lines up in a masters race over 530m. He will take on a couple of handy types in the form of It’s Smudgy and Zipping Chew, but Fagan will just be hoping that he can stay sound and maintain his form, as he attempts to work his way back to the staying journey.
“This is another stepping stone, he’s done a ‘300’, now a ‘400’, so it’s the natural progression to go to ‘500’ and then we will just have the fingers crossed that the back leg holds up and that he can get back to ‘700’,
Fagan said,
“That’s always the thing in the back of our mind, whether he can stay sound, if he does then he’s more than impressive, he’s won $140,000.”
Racing will start at 6:42pm local time on Thursday.
Best Bet: Call Me Jacques (Race 2, Number 4)
Value Bet: Hoogley (Race 8, Number 4)