Image credit: Louise Partland
By Brennan Ryan
Gumlu trainer Harold Hovi claimed his first KEYFLO Townsville Young Guns Final (380m) at the showgrounds on Tuesday night, with Excitable Jack continuing his great form taking the race honours.
Away only fairly from box three, the son of Head Bound and Bella’s Fancy took a rails run heading into the first turn when the field bunched together, working hard into second behind Mali’s Missile.
Early leader Major Gibson came to grief when he collided with Patty Talks which changed the scene.
Turning for home, the Young Guns Final looked to be a great three-way finish and Excitable Jack warmed to the task in powering away to the line in what was a memorable result to the sprint feature.
The black sprinter scored convincingly from Mali’s Missile with Editor away third running 22.27secs.
Excitable Jack has now recorded 8 victories with 6 minors from 21 starts and $13,000 in prizemoney.
His trainer Harold Hovi declared post-race that Excitable Jack looked out of contention after the mediocre start.
“When he missed the start, I seriously thought our chances were truly squandered,” Hovi described.
“To my complete shock, when I saw the field turn for home, then I realised Excitable Jack had hit the front - he certainly got on with the task.
“The dog is racing well and deserved to land a feature race.”
Harold explained it has been a matter of time and patience to allow Excitable Jack to mature with age.
“Desma (wife) and I have taken Excitable Jack along one race at a time, he needed to improve with experience and since August, he continues to impress me and deserved to land a big win,” Hovi said.
“Excitable Jack is high in grade over the sprint so now we’ll look to concentrate on the 498 metres.
“Overall, the dog was a cheap buy and he has certainly paid his way having won eight races thus far.”