Crawford is off the ropes and back in the title fight

By Pat McLeod

Jeff Crawford is rolling with the punches.

Last Thursday, power hitter Tony Brett stunned him with two perfectly timed body blows.

On Monday of this week, Crawford came dancing back out of his corner.

“We are back in the game now,” the rejuvenated Buccan-based trainer said.

He had just learned that Greg Deering had scratched Riorson Bale from Thursday night’s Queensland Sprint Championship Final, which promoted his kennel king Blue Blend from the reserves bench back into the ‘big dance’.

It was a stark turnaround from last Thursday when Blue Blend had finished fifth in his heat and had failed to make it directly through to the sprint decider.

On the same day Brett stole the headlines and stormed through to the straight track and sprint Finals on the back of track record runs by Darcy Dakota and Cumbria Jack, respectively.

Both those records had been held by Crawford’s dogs - Miles On It (straight) and Blue Blend (sprint).

“About 2pm on Monday I got a message from Greg (Deering) saying that his bitch Riorson Bale had come on season and he would have to scratch her,” Crawford explains.

“I quickly jumped online and saw it. I didn't even realise Blue Blend was first reserve. In greyhound racing you have to roll with the punches and take the good with the bad and that was certainly the case for me last Thursday.

“I just had accepted that Blue Blend hadn't made the Final and was prepared to move on.

“Initially I was disappointed that he didn't qualify, but having a look at the replays, he was just a victim of circumstances when he got shut out early and was never able to get into the race. But, interestingly, I thought he ran a bit like a flat dog.

“He was checked at the weekend and was a bit sore in a chest muscle, but I don't think that was the reason for his performance on Thursday night.

“This week I will do things a little differently and just keep him a little on the fresh side. We are through, just not on the path that I was originally hoping for.”

Crawford will have Blue Blend jumping from box six and kennelmate Star Turn out of box seven and acknowledges their biggest threat looms from the pink - Cumbria Jack.

“Having a look at the box draw, Cumbria Jack has always been a quality dog but rose to a new level with his race record run the other night,” he said.

“From box eight he will be mighty hard to beat. It is an interesting race and when you get a field full of very good dogs you could run the race over and over and get a different result every time.

“But, Blue Blend is in the race now and I have to admit I'm still a little stunned and taking it all in.

“I don't see Blue Blend threatening early. He will need luck from there (box six) because of all the early speed in the race.

“I guess I am hoping that the leaders might worry each other early and he can get a bit of a run around. But, he will be looking for the same real estate as Cumbria Jack, early on and mid-race.

“I don't think we will be able to run Cumbria Jack down the way that dog went the other night. He did everything right.”

Crawford also has two chasers through to Thursday’s straight track state Final at The Q – heat winner Miles On It and Ringbark Larry, who placed second to Jayson Valentine’s Tarawi Buster in his heat.

“I believe both of my dogs have the ability to feature in the straight track Final,” he said.

“Ringbark Larry ran a very good 18.86 seconds in the heats. Miles On It went a tad slower (18.94 seconds) than he did when he originally broke the record (18.79 seconds).

“But, the dog to beat will obviously be Tony's dog (Darcy Dakota). He looked very smart in the heats. Overall, this Thursday we got what we were hoping to get - two dogs in two state Finals.

“So, all we have to do now is front up on Thursday and hopefully things pan out nicely for us.”