Daysea’s Rory makes a golden first impression at The Q

By Pat McLeod

Premier trainer Tom Tzouvelis’ sprint king Daysea’s Rory sent a sharp reminder of his 2025 Queensland Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival intentions with a slick win in Thursday night’s QGOLD Winter Sprint Final on the Q2 Parklands circuit.

Fresh from a light preparation, the Sennachie and Nikki Nettle speedster clinched the start to lead throughout and win by one-and-three-quarters-of-a-length over youngsters Star Turn (trained by Jeff Crawford) and Satoshi (Ben McCarthy).

“I was quietly confident,” Tzouvelis admitted after the run.

“He had a very good draw with Bear’s Bullet and Satoshi drawn the right side.

“He (Daysea’s Rory) hasn't had a lot of work over the past month. I am not saying that he will go better, but he is where we want him to be.

“He was two weeks between circle runs and trialled 29.49 seconds. I think he is the best dog in Queensland and I think he is racking up a few feature wins to prove that.

“I believe he will be a genuine threat here for the winter carnival at The Q.”

Originally under the tutelage of owner and veteran trainer Claude Dacey, Daysea’s Rory was handed to Tzouvelis late last year to get the most from his emerging talent.

The fawn flyer duly stepped up and won the Queensland Flame before heading south and placing third in the prestigious The Phoenix.

His record currently sits at 16 wins and 20 placings from 54 starts for $368,433 in prizemoney.

Daysea’s Rory has also proven his ability up the Capalaba straight and has been named in the Queensland Straight of Origin team for their showdown with NSW on Sunday, June 1.

Tzouvelis has no doubt the straight track runs boost that dog’s circle performance.

“We took him to Capalaba before this run,” Tzouvelis said.

“So, he had a pretty light preparation, probably a little lighter than what I would have preferred, but I wanted to qualify him for the Straight Of Origin at Capalaba.

“He is a very, very good straight track dog and it works well with his box manners.

“He seems to jump really well when he goes there, which he showed, and hopefully that all sets him up well for the circle version.”

Thursday night’s $25,090-to-the-winner QGOLD event was Daysea’s Rory’s race debut at The Q and was the perfect start for what now shapes as an exciting six weeks of racing for the quality chaser.

The highlight of the carnival, and Daysea’s Rory’s major goal, will be the $1 million Group 1 Brisbane Cup Final at The Q2 Parklands track on July 5.

Thursday night’s other two QGOLD features were both taken out by experienced Gatton trainer Tony Apap.

He won the QGOLD Winter Chase Final with Cheers For Bella, who saluted in 34.55 seconds from Chill Pill Jill (Chad Bridge) with Non Stop Recall (Jamie Hosking) third.

Apap then took out the QGOLD Stayers Final with Plum Tuckered (in 42.00 seconds) from Enchanted Ava (Warren Nicholls) and Kitty Ann (Paul McIlveen).