Belford says Townsville quality shows in Young Guns

By Josh Spasaro

Brad Belford believes the greyhound racing at Townsville is so strong right now that it is almost on par with South East Queensland’s metropolitan arena.

That is why he believes his two-year-old bitch Ashy Bear will have her work cut out from box eight in the Townsville Young Guns Final on Tuesday night.

Ashy Bear has won and placed twice in her past five starts, but she will be running in an impressive field that includes Steven Scott’s three promising bitches - Farmor Bacardi, Untamed Velocity and Back Again.

Federal Bullet – starting from box four for Gary Farrell – is also tipped to be hard to beat.

“That’s a pretty hot field. But, drawn out there, if there’s any trouble inside, she’ll probably get over somewhere near them,” Belford said.

“She goes all right, but that’s a pretty good field.”

Belford said the standard of competition in Townsville was as good as many metropolitan races in South East Queensland.

Pretty Cindy, Impress Fury, Uncommon and Ashy Bear herself are proof of this as they are all among Belford’s recent winners at Albion Park or Ipswich.

“It (Townsville racing) is a lot stronger than most people think. We went to Brisbane and took 24 with us and got more when we went there,” he said.

“I’m not talking about The Q now, but at Ipswich and Albion Park, it was easier to win there than it is in Townsville. I guarantee that. I took dogs who couldn’t win here and they won two and three there.”

Belford said Back Again and Federal Bullet would be the chasers to beat in the Townsville Young Guns Final.

Back Again has the most wins in the eight-dog field, with 11 from 29 starts.

Ashy Bear is next, with nine victories from 39 starts, while Federal Bullet has saluted on six occasions from 22 races.

“I know he (Scott) has drawn inside me and it (Back Again) is the quickest out of the lot. I thought it’d give me help getting over,” Belford said.

“If the four (Federal Bullet) gets a clean run, he’ll win. He can find trouble, but if he gets a clear go, he’ll go near the record. He’s very, very good.”

Ashy Bear has the most experience in this juvenile feature sprint worth $7,900 and to be run over 380 metres. 

Ashy Bear is by Melbourne Cup-winner Koblenz and out of Aston Dee Bee bitch Toasty Toes, who saluted seven times from 24 starts.

“She’s very good early. When we were in Brisbane, she really found her feet there,” Belford said.

“That was because we switched around from Capalaba to Albion Park and back to Ipswich.

“She went good there. She’s still going all right here. She won a couple of starts back and she’s just a leader. I’d rather her drawn inside, but you never know in those races. They’ll be going hammer and tongs early.”

Meanwhile, Belford said he was enjoying training 16 dogs under his care back in Townsville, after an enjoyable year based at Churchable, in South East Queensland.

But, he revealed he and wife Jackie have not ruled out moving back south again for another set period.

“We just moved for 12 months. I’m back home now,” he said.

“We went down and went good. We won plenty. We just thought we’ve got grandkids up here and kids.

“And, the travelling knocked us around. We’ve only got 16 dogs in work here. We had 50 down there.

“If we get a few decent ones, we’ll go back for a while. But, we’re just happy to be home at the moment. We’ll see what happens with what dogs we get through.”

Belford also said he was delighted to have Federal Remark back up in North Queensland.

He will line up in Townsville – in race six over 380 metres, also from box eight on Tuesday night – for the first time since September 6 last year.

The three-year-old has 29 wins from 67 starts, for $107,985 in career prizemoney.

“We won 27 with him. He stayed down there and went to Jemma Daley,” Belford said.

“He’s back home and he’s in Tuesday night. He trialed as good as he’s ever been going, so we’ll see what happens.”