Paxton Dutton dominates on straight track debut
Tuesday (Straight track)
Nathan Goodenough had a great afternoon up the straight track, landing two super impressive winners.
Paxton Dutton was first box eight to contend with over the 300m distance in his straight track debut. Despite it being his first start at the track, it certainly didn’t show, as he came out well, working through his gears quickly to find the lead before flashing away from his rivals.
He was in no danger during the run, and he bolted away to win by five lengths in a best of the day 16.58 in a sensational run.
The classy Taylor Toves took a cracking fast class race to make it two winners for Goodenough. Over the 350m distance, Taylor Toves was a tad slow to go, but he quickly went through his gears and in the end won easily by three lengths in a quick 19.28.
Gary Pidgeon has been having some good success up the straight in recent times and that continued Tuesday as he picked up a double. Fan The Flames was the first winner and he returned from a lengthy spell in really good fashion for Gary. From box one over the 300m trip, he was able to jump a short lead, ahead of the kennelmate who was the red-hot favourite. It was a cracking go the whole way up the straight, but in the end Fan The Flames proved too hard to reel in, as he held on by a neck in a handy 17.10, with the kennel mate in Flying Embers running the quinella.
It was just a few races later that Billy’s The Best put in one of his career best efforts for Gary, to win easily over 300m. He found a suitable field to line up against and from box seven, he was able to quickly work over to the lead. In the past he has had some troubles in going on with the job, but once in front he just extended his lead, winning easily in 17.06, to make it a great day for Gary and the team!
Jane Mcnicholl ventured to the straight with her young chaser Bronze Titan, with the fawn dog returning from a two-month spell. He’s a dog that had some hype about him early days and he hasn’t really been able to show it so far, but Tuesday may well have been a good confidence booster for him.
From box two, he came out well enough to lead, but did shift up to the middle of the track. He was grinding away in front and with the line approaching, so were the challengers. On the line, he got the head down and won, just, in 16.99.
Dog to follow: Woodside Gracie - Comes through the Bronze Titan race and to be fair, she probably should have won the race. She was held up early and not in clear air, but once she got out, she really stormed late and just missed by a pimple. Her form lines are good, and she will be winning very soon.
Sunday (One-turn)
Tony Rasmussen is obviously no stranger to a handy dog, and he might have found another one in the form of Cawbourne Dash, who debuted over the 395m trip on Sunday night.
Coming out of box four, he started second favourite and things weren't looking great when he came out on the back foot after the boxes opened. He showed some smarts into the first turn, sitting a little wide but staying out of trouble, as he made some ground on the leader.
Into the turn, he looked a real danger and very quickly took over in front, before dashing away for an excellent 22.38 win. That time was also the best of the night, which you rarely see from a maiden, particularly a first starter and he clearly has got a bright future.
We had two heats of a Murray Bridge to Angle Park feature over the 530m distance, with the Wendy Sebastyan trained Spring Flute clocking the quicker of the two heats.
The brindle bitch drew well for her race and when the boxes opened, she came out well holding the front with some tenacity. Once in front, she did things easily and never looked like losing, before winning by four lengths in a quick 29.98. Off the back of that, she will likely start favourite in the final on Thursday night. The other heat winner was the Karryn Nobes trained Spring High Low.
The final of the grade 6 series over the 455m trip was one of the highlights for the night, with the race going the way of the Adrien Chevalier- trained Balonne Boy, who made the most of box one.
With some poor luck in his recent starts, he jumped well from the low draw and found the front. Given his strength, he was always going to be hard to beat in front and sure enough that’s what eventuated, with the others not getting close to him. The result was a four-length win in a slick 25.58.
Dog to follow: Immense - She’s in good form at the moment and is awfully close to breaking through for her first win since February. Again, on Sunday she ran second and arguably should have won if not for some early interference. Not sure where we see her next, but I would certainly be on her side wherever she lines up again.