The ‘Truck’ delivers Group 1 success
After narrowly missing out on Group 1 success on two previous occasions, Sir Truculent finally delivered the Group 1 victory that owner Wally Harkins and his fanbase had been eagerly waiting for in Thursday night’s Queensland Cup at Albion Park.
Under the watchful eye of highly successful Queensland trainer Tony Brett, Sir Truculent’s odds got out to a mouth-watering $10 for local punters despite being the fastest heat winner the week prior. Up against the highly fancied Maggie Moo Moo, Five Star and Micks Recall, the ‘Truck’ began strongly from box 5 to find himself sitting behind early leader Brockie Magic on the first bend and into home straight on the first instance. As they turned into the bend into the back straight, Sir Truculent swept around the outside of Brockie Magic and pushed clear of the congestion in the field behind him to gain a big advantage in the race. Out in the open, the ‘Truck’ put the foot down with a fantastic burst of speed and extended his lead out to 5 lengths from Maggie Moo Moo and Micks Recall who had pushed up into contention for the placings. However, Sir Truculent did not give them a look in as he powered away to a memorable win for all connections and SA racing fans, crossing the finish line in an impressive 41.58 seconds for the 710-metre trip.
Despite the longer odds for Sir Truculent, owner Wally Harkins was confident that his chaser was up for another big performance. “He has his own Facebook page and I posted up that we were in another big race and a good chance, and he never lets me down!” said Wally, “As soon as he jumped well, I felt we had one hand on the Cup after the first 100m. He just needs some room to move and if he gets it, then he just does what he does best. We love flying the flag for SA.”
Harkins was full of praise for Tony Brett who has guided the 2020 SA TAB Greyhound of the Year during his campaign’s interstate. “Tony is a fantastic trainer, very knowledgeable, and I know he is in very capable hands.”
Queensland has been a happy hunting ground for Sir Truculent in 2021 with the champ winning the Group Listed Gold Cup at Albion Park in February. He will now stay in Queensland with Tony Brett and contest the Ipswich Grand Prix over the 732m on Saturday 17th July as he looks to keep his strong top-end form.
“We are targeting the Ipswich race there and then we will back to SA for the National series. I have been watching Fantastic Radley at Murray Bridge and look forward to some great competition between them,” said Wally on what is next for his star.
In another great note for South Australian greyhound racing, and breeding in particular, the win marked the first Group 1 victory for SA sire Worm Burner making the win extra memorable being an SA Bred winner by an SA sire. Worm Burner’s career as a sire continues to impress and the performances of Sir Truculent will no doubt have more breeders pencilling his name in as a potential suitor.
After Thursday night’s win Sir Truculent’s already impressive record now stands at 92 starts for 40 wins and 31 placings for prizemoney of just over $399,000. With runs like this, there may just be more Group wins in the tank for the ‘Truck’.
