Orson Emmy Sets Up An Intriguing 730m FFA
Wally Harkins is no stranger to training a good stayer, having mentored the great Sir Truculent and he may have found himself another handy one in the form of Orson Emmy, who has been terrific in her few starts since coming to South Australia. Whilst being competitive in Victoria, she was finding it hard to win against the top grade dogs and that is part of the reason she has found herself in South Australia. It sets up for a intriguing 730m FFA on Thursday, with the form 730m dog in Mr. Ibrox set for a bit more competition with Orson Emmy to exit box four, whilst Chair Man for Ben Rawlings will exit box seven for his first 730m run at Angle Park. Orson Emmy will bring some terrific form to the race, with an excellent run last start at Gawler over their distance journey, where she ran home terrifically and nearly turned over Powder Finger, who has been in good form himself.
“I got a dog that I wanted to put to Sir Truculent called Orson Ruby and I thought it matched up really well. Although (Orson) Ruby didn’t perform on the track, she didn’t have that much success because she dropped a back leg muscle. She still won about 12 grand. I just liked the breeding that much because her mother Glass Roof has produced 21 pups for 20 winners and alot of them have won at the Meadows and Sandown.” said Harkins
“I spoke to the owner and said that Orson Emmy you’ve got there can run, but she's just running against real good dogs. I said if you want to send her over then talk to the trainer and see what he thinks, it took about a month and then she came over.”
“I got her over here and started trialling her. She can really run on her own but she has a bit of trouble in a field because she hasn’t got the early pace. I've only had her for 4 or 5 starts and she's only been unplaced once. She’s got a mid race sprint, if she unleashes on the home turn then she wins but it's just a matter of timing.”
“Very very good (her last start effort). A lot of experienced trainers said to me after the run, one being Michael Giniotis who’s always been good to me and given me advice, he said to me she’s ready for the ‘700’.”
“I just haven’t had her long enough to condition her for the 700 whereas in Melbourne they were swapping around her distances, but if you want to train a dog for the distance then you just train it for the distance.”
“I'm giving her some experience around the Adelaide tracks. I still think she's a couple of runs off running out the 700 at Angle Park strongly.”
“She's improving every week, I trialled her over the 455m at Murray Bridge last week and she went within a length of the fastest of the day so she's getting there, she might need another 1 or 2 runs but I think she will do well. I give her a chance.”
Fantastic Eddy will be looking to build on his excellent first up run last week, where he ran Yarramundi Paul to a length in near best of night time, running 30.57 himself with an excellent run home time. It was Fantastic Eddy’s first run in six weeks, with the spell aimed to freshen him up after some indifferent runs following a promising start to his career. The yellow rug will be waiting to greet Fantastic Eddy on Thursday night and he will certainly have his work cut out trying to navigate the full field. What is in the brindle dogs favour is the lack of early speed in the race, which will present the opportunity to land closer to the front if he is good enough. Trainer Barry Stewart was pleased with the run last week; however, expressed concern about being in race 11 on Thursday night.
“It was a good run last week but he’s better in an early race than a late race.” said Stewart
“He may not do his best because he will play up in the kennel house.”
“If he was in an early race then he would have a good chance but because he’s in a late race it might take a bit out of him. He hasn’t learnt to settle in the kennels at this stage.”
“He will probably be near favourite but it’s a wide open race and he’s got box five to boot.”
“He is coming out better but he’s not quick early and that's his big problem. I’m hoping he might get over distance in the future.”
Clear View trained by Tara Rasmussen will be looking to capitalise on a favourable box one draw when she lines up in the grade 5 bitches only race on Thursday. Drawing low in a race that lacks speed will provide the white and fawn bitch every opportunity to find the early lead, but she will need to ensure she comes out cleanly as she has a habit of going up with the lids. Since having a month-long spell, she has been in good form, with runs at Murray Bridge, Horsham and then Angle Park last week.
“She has been going quite well. It’s the best section of form she’s had in a while and the break did her good, it was a good freshen up for her.“ said Rasmussen
“It was her first 530 for a while and her strength is always a small concern but she ran on really well and didn’t lose anything from the dog in front of her last week.”
“Hopefully with a couple more 530’s she’ll keep getting stronger. Her box manners have always been a problem but we’ve found she usually jumps better from odd boxes, probably because she has time to go crazy before the lids open and not when the lids open.”
“She’s an energetic little thing and always screams the house down in the preview and in the boxes, it’s when you know she’s feeling good. A bit like when she wakes us up in the morning with a few head nudges, you just know she’s feeling good.”
“I like to think my dogs always have a chance but I never give them much, superstition always wins out. She’s well boxed on the rail and in an odd box so she’s got a good chance. In saying that, if you ask anyone, I never say my dogs are going to win, then I’m never disappointed and they always make me proud.”
Best Bet: Victa Speed (Race 6, Number 1)
Value Bet: Paw Some Sloane (Race 12, Number 5)