Made in America flies the flag for Stella

By Isaac Murphy

Made In America has been a hard luck story for trainer Greg Stella.

He has suffered repeated injuries, never allowing the greyhound to reach his full potential.

Stella has never given up on him though and is on the verge of the biggest financial win of his racing career after he qualified for the master’s Final by winning his heat on Thursday night.

“He’s had his fair share of problems; we’ve been in master’s with him for a while now and he’s still only had the 30 race starts,” Stella said.

“It probably gives him a little bit of an advantage not having had many runs, he’s still got plenty of spring in the legs and has the first section to lead these races early.

“He made a few little mistakes that he’ll have to fix up if he wants to win the final, but he did enough to win which is what I was after.”

Stella’s night got even better bringing up a training double in heat three of the master’s with Security Code returning in style from a six-month absence, showing a great turn of foot to win in 30.01 seconds first up.

“That’s actually his first run for me, the owner approached me about taking him on at his best he was a third and fourth grade dog, so I took the challenge,” he said.

“His trial work has been really good but that’s only the second time he’s been over the 520 metres and the first under race conditions.

“I was expecting about a 30.20 second clip, but he got a great run from the red and went through his gears from there, I’m really impressed with that.”

What About It winds back the clock

Just over 18 months ago Mick Patterson’s bitch What About It was at the peak of her powers, running second in the $110,000 Listed Gold Cup.

A combination of Covid and injuries cruelled the bitch in her prime.

But Patterson knew she wasn’t done yet and third-up she powered home from midfield to win her way into next week’s master’s final.

“It’s such a thrill to see her back at the track healthy, let alone going out and winning after all this time," he said. 

“I’ve always loved coming up from Iluka knowing I have a winning chance at Albion Park, it’s always been this girls favourite track and it’s great having her back.

“She’ll improve lengths on that performance especially if we can come up with an inside draw, as we saw tonight she can run them down from mid-field.”

Johnny Hot Feet shows a clean set of heels

Darren Johnstone has timed his run at the master’s series perfectly with Johnny Hot Feet.

The dog has been building his way up in distance and produced a huge run after missing the kick in his heat, pulling out three wide down the back to round them up.

The trainer is happy with where he’s at.

“On his form a couple of weeks ago when we won in this grade, he was always going to be very competitive and despite playing up a bit and getting back on his heels in the boxes, he’s found a way,” Johnstone said.

“He’s a dog who’s done plenty of his racing over the Ipswich 500 metres, so I knew he had it in him to come from behind and we were fortunate enough to find our way into third around the first corner.

“He can win a few different ways and given a good week at home I think he’ll be as good a chance as any in the final.”

Champagne performance in novice grade

Champagne Jazzy took care of her competition in a first out first home win in the novice for Ray and Mary Burman.

The bitch has been looking like winning her novice for a few weeks and at 18 months of age is ready to step out against the older dogs next week.

“She’d been beating herself the last few weeks running up the back of the leaders and just making a few mistakes, as a young bitch can,” Mary Burman said.

“It’s been a few runs between her debut win and tonight, so it was nice to come up with the red and she was able to get out in front and run her own race."

Rival trainers can breathe a sigh of relief as the last of the Burman’s Out of Range/Champagne Sally pups hit the track on Thursday.

Stanton Warrior recorded a brilliant 29.85 second debut win.

“With Stanton Warrior winning his Eric Thomson heat we’ve got all eight of our Champagne Sally pups racing now, we’re looking forward to a busy but rewarding few months," Mary Burman said.

Spotted Elk sprints her way to three in a week

It was a frustrating winter carnival for Graham and Leanne Hall with superstar bitch Extra Malt unable to find any semblance of luck in her Group racing ventures.

The disappointment hasn’t lasted long though with Paw Licking/It Gets Better litter sister Spotted Elk picking up the slack, recording her third straight win in her fifth-grade heat, running 29.88 seconds.

“There wasn’t much between them when they were young we just had a few issues with Spotted Elk, which set her back four months, we’re just starting to see what she’s capable of now,” Graham Hall said.

“When Extra Malt was coming through the grades, she was loving the work so much we could race her twice a week and it’s the same with this bitch, that’s three wins in a week.

“She can get it done in a variety of ways, it was an easy watch when she found the front tonight but she’s just as adept running on, she’s got a bright future.”

Dreamy Dan lands for Dart

Claude Dacey’s Fernando Bale/Jeannie Dreaming litter have been making waves wherever they’re placed.

And the Northern Rivers-trained John Dart is happy to have the reigns with Dreamy Dan, who stormed over the top of them in the fifth grade heat.

“I liked the look of the litter and I bought a brother off Claude (Dacey) Jigsaw Joe and when I went to pick him up, he said do you wan to train Dreamy Dan too? Which I jumped at," Dart said. 

“His wins have come with early pace so far, to miss the kick and have to pull four wide around the 600 metre boxes was some sort of win.

“He’s going to have to improve on the clock next week, but with an inside box I can see him breaking 30 seconds which’ll test them.”

Farmor Beach with freakish 600 metre debut

There were plenty of eyes on the fifth grade 600 metre race with dual Group winner Farmor Beach making his debut at the trip for the Scott kennel.

He ran into a good one first up in Kooringa Lucy, but after finding the front early, kept kicking, delighting his trainer with a 34.76 second win.

“I’ve been toying with the idea of stepping him up for a while I just thought he deserved a chance at races like the Brisbane Cup before I pulled the trigger,” Scott said.

“At his best over the sprint he runs home in 12.4-12.5 range, and he’s always had that will to win, I was hopeful he’d go well tonight but 34.76 seconds has blown expectations out of the water.

“He’s been in tough boxes in tough races and when I got him over to the 600 metre start tonight I could tell he sensed the change the ears pricked up and away he went.”