Townsville Derby hopeful about to enter his ‘prime time’

By Josh Spasaro

Daniel Miles believes Mr. Kaplan has his best racing ahead of him going into the second Townsville Derby Heat on Tuesday night.

His two-year-old has won once and placed four times in his past five starts, and he will start from box two in a quality feature worth $4,880, and over 498 metres.

“Over the next six months, that’s probably when it’s the best racing for a dog, between two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half,” Miles said of his chaser, who turns three on November 28.

“The next six months ahead of him, we’ll see what he can do.”

Miles said the second Townsville Derby Heat – scheduled for 9.08pm – won’t be short on quality.

“I think it’s a pretty open race. I reckon he’s as good a chance as anyone in the race,” he said.

“Steve Scott’s dog has drawn directly outside him, Waikarie Venom. He had a good run in Rocky last start. He ran a pretty good time (winning in 23.54 seconds over 407 metres).

“And of course Rhonda Essery’s young up-and-comer, Gidgee Bug, out in the eight.

“He’s been going well. They’re probably my two main dangers.”

Mr. Kaplan has started his career in good fashion, with seven wins from 32 starts.

By Melbourne Cup Final winner My Redeemer and out of Naturally Gifted who won 24 from 108 starts, Mr. Kaplan is also blessed with a lean, athletic frame.

But Miles believes he is still developing mentally.

“Tweety Bird in the head can turn up each day. But he’s just a nice type of dog,” he said.

“He’s well put together. He’s not an overly big dog by any stretch. He’s just under 29kg.

“But he’s just starting to piece it all together in the past three months or so.”

Miles is based in Townsville, and he said the quantity of talented chasers across Tuesday night’s Derby and Futurity Heats was a reflection of how tough it was to win a race in North Queensland at the moment.

“As for the overall heats, there are some good ones in there. Brad Belford’s On Holidays trialled really well over the distance on Wednesday night in his first look at it,” he said.

“So he’ll be tough to beat.

“It’s very strong (in Townsville) at the moment. It’s certainly not easy to win races.

“It’s not like the old days where you could pay $1000 and you’d just about have a champion.

“Now you’re not in the hunt unless you’re paying 10 or 15 grand.

“The quality of dog up here has improved quite sharply in the past two to three years.”