Magical Hope crowns herself the Rising Star

By Isaac Murphy

It was another brilliant night of greyhound racing at Albion Park last night, with Magical Hope clinical in taking out a bumper edition of the Listed Rising Stars Final.

The second-elect in the market paired off with race favourite Farmor Beach on the first turn but training couple Bill and Cyndie Elson’s bitch would not give up, rallying on for an impressive win.

Rockhampton trainer Darren Taylor also had a night to remember, with all three of his runners saluting on a watershed night for the kennel.

Magical Hope Queen of the Rising Stars

The Rising Stars brought together the cream of the crop for our 30 months and under dogs, and the Final lived up to the billing, with Magical Hope claiming her 14^th win from 30 starts, taking home the $17,500 purse - and her best is yet to come according to Bill Elson.

“It was some kind of win, they were all over her around the turn but she’s pretty strong, a lot of dogs would have got dragged down or given into the pressure but she’s building some good habits,” Elson said.

“Farmor Beach has been the dog to catch lately and we went close a couple of starts ago, so it was nice to see her get one back on him and show she’s up to that level.

“She doesn’t have any real flaws as a 500-metre bitch, she can get out of the lids and hit the line, and when you can do it at both ends the results come.”

The Elson kennel is a production line of high-class pups, but Bill said Magical Hope had always stood out and was bound for bigger races.

“We’ve always thought she would turn out to be one of our better bitches and she’s living up to it, I think she’s got about $75,000 in prize money after winning the Rising Stars and she’s only just getting started,” he said.

“She’ll go to the Ipswich Cup Heats next week against the Free For All dogs which will test her, but the way she’s going I’d be mad not to give her a go.

“She’s only raced over the 431-metres at Ipswich, but when she was broken in as a pup, we took her there to trial so she should know a bit about the place.”

Magical Hope will meet some familiar foes in the heats and Elson doesn’t think she’ll take a backward step.

“I’ve got plenty of confidence in her, she’s been racing the best dogs at Albion Park most weeks and showing she belongs, she’ll be coming up against some familiar ones in the heats,” he said.

“There’s not much between those top ones, if she drew outside Farmor Beach last night she probably doesn’t win, but you’ve got to use the box when you draw one and that’s what she’s been doing.”

The kennel brought up a race-to-race double with Love Game producing a career best performance, skipping away by eight lengths.

“The only thing that’s been costing Love Game in her races is her missing the kick and having to do a tonne of work to run on into the places,” Bill Elson said.

“She jumped for the first time last night and like most dogs was a different animal on the bunny, she wiped a tenth off her best time and opened up a big margin.

“If she can keep coming out ok, I think she can definitely go under 30 seconds, she’s not going to get to Magical Hope’s level but she’s a good kennel bitch that’s going to win plenty of races.”

Night to remember for Rocky’s Darren Taylor

Darren Taylor has been racking up the premierships in Rockhampton for years, but the question has always loomed how his would dogs stack up in the city.

The answer was emphatic last night, with Pitch Black Gaga, Are Jay Lochie and Rose Ali all scoring on a night to remember.

Pitch Black Gaga went up a $26 chance in the Novice but no-one was telling her, showcasing a dominant win and plenty of untapped potential.

“Pitch Black Gaga came to us in great order and had a really nice trial at Albion Park before we got her, we were initially disappointed that she missed out on the Futurity in Rockhampton, but she’s come to Albion Park and won in 30.10,” Taylor said.

“She was still very green in the run, she wanted to wobble around a bit but eventually found her way past the leader and despite doing plenty wrong, to win like she did was top notch.

“She’ll be back at Albion Park in Fifth Grade company soon, but she’s got plenty of grades we can tick off up here first, there’s a nice bitches race during the week that has her name written all over it.”

Are Jay Lochie celebrated his fourth birthday last month and has saluted with a hat trick of wins at headquarters, and Taylor thinks the kennel favourite has more in him too.

“He’s still getting off a bit on the first corner, but he’s started to keep his momentum in the run where he was really wobbling and going a couple of lengths wider in the past,” he said.

“Of his three victories that was his most dominant win, even though he came through the corner second last he never lost contact with the bunch and that’s been the difference between an eye-catching placing and a win.

“He goes up to Fourth Grade now which is going to be tougher but I don’t think I’m getting carried away saying he’s a real chance to keep winning, he’s been running good time (30.02) and he’s shown he’s never too old to improve.”

Rose Ali completed the perfect night with a trademark sweeping victory over the 700 metres, and Taylor is hoping she can also mature with age and find some time on the clock.

“It’s bittersweet with Rose Ali, as thrilling it is to see her run four-wide the trip and still be coming home the best, it’s costing her a lot of time,” he said.

“If she could just rail a little better, she’d comfortably break the 42 seconds.

“We’ve got her rock hard fit now having a few 700s under her belt and you never know, with a few more she might learn a couple of new tricks like Are Jay Lochie.

“It was a really rewarding night for the whole family, we’ve all invested a lot of time and money to get our dogs down to Brisbane and to come up with a treble is great validation.”